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During the long car drive from The Hague to Bakkeveen
in Friesland because of the annual Progfarm (2008 edition
with an excellent gig by Nemo and strong performances by Dutch
progrock bands 5Bridges and Flamborough Head), we had plenty
of time to listen to new progrock. In the end I was mostly
impressed by the Swedish formation Karmakanic. I had never
heard of that name, it appeared to be the solo project by
the The Flower Kings bass player Jonas Reingold, it’s even
his third CD (after Entering The Spectra in 2002 and Wheel
Of Life in 2004) and he has invited fellow The Flower Kings
members Tomas Bodin and Roine Stolt.
- The long first composition Send A Message From The
Heart (almost 20 minutes) delivers very dynamic and alternating
(from mellow and slow rhythms to swinging and bombastic) modern
sounding progrock featuring splendid keyboard work, from majestic
choir-Mellotron and powerful Hammond organ to sparkling Grand
piano and a mindblowing Minimoog synthesizer solo with pitchbend
in the vein of Jan Hammer in his best days, awesome! The guitarwork
is also a strong element, from a jazzy solo to Gilmourian
runs and a fiery solo supported by lush Hammond organ, what
a start! The other five compositions also succeed to generate
a lot of excitement, due to the huge variety and many captivating
musical ideas: swinging acoustic guitar, fat R&R inspired
guitar and a spectacular synthesizer solo in the fluent Let
In Hollywood, wonderful interplay between fretless bass and
Grand piano, again a fantastic vintage keyboard sound (from
another flashy Minimoog solo to lush Hammond and Mellotron)
to fiery wah-wah guitar and a compelling final part in the
titletrack, tasteful keyboards, guitar and saxophone in the
pleasant Two Blocks From The Edge, very beautiful Grand piano
in the short piece Eternally Part I and again beautiful interplay
between Grand piano and fretless bass along intense accordion
work (evoking the Argentine tango masters), the Malmö String
Ensemble and a compelling grand finale with emotional vocals
in the melancholical final song Eternally Part II.
- What a great effort, so varied and dynamic and what
a crafty musicians, highly recommended to every proghead in
this Galaxy!
www.progwalhalla.com
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