A LIVE DOCUMENT

This is an excellent live album by Austrian band Blank Manuskript, whose music has a tendency to symphonic rock, with some jazz and folk elements and whose history dates back to 2007. I was introduced to their music in the recent years thanks to fellow prog-rock conossieur, Rosy Sánchez, and I am always impressed by the endless high- quality bands related to prog rock that exist around the globe, of course, Blank Manuskript is not an exception.

Though I initially thought this live document would mostly feature songs taken from their most recent studio album, 'Himmelfahrt', I was positively surprised to know this was actually a journey through their discography, because I in fact was not familiar with their first studio albums, so listening to some hints of them in this live experience, led me to take a look back to their history, which of course, has given me moments of listening pleasure.

In this 10-song album they delight us with 77 minutes of excellent music, showing their quality not only as composers but as performers. After some applauses from the crowd (I love these details on live albums, they show the human side of the show), the band kicks-off with a short version of 'Foetus', which works as the introduction for the first explosion in this album, which is 'Public Enemy', taken from their 2015 album, 'The Waiting Soldier'. Great keyboard work as background while a guitar delivers its profound notes, and then the band take us into a calm realm when flute appears, so we can even close our eyes and feel relieved, relaxed, at peace for a moment. However, then they invite us to shake our bodies when the rhythm changes and becomes more intense for a while. Bass lines and drums open the gates to a keyboard solo, then all work together at unison, create quirky tempo tunes and let us know that the so-called progressive rock is on their veins.

Talking about references of prog rock, long epic songs might be a must for any band who considers themselves under that realm, so here with 'The Cult of Birdman' they take us to a long journey through loads of sounds, emotions, changes, moods, creativity. They play in a delicate way, which leads them to produce an exquisite sound that is like an embrace for the soul. I like a lot their vocal work, the backing vocals produce great colors and images. Yeah, a jazzy episode appears after the third minute and I imagine people at the show started moving their bodies, if not dancing (I would do it haha). But yeah, I like how they blend different musical styles and influences here and how they are fearless to surprise us, I mean, an example is the ambient / spacey passage they implemented after that jazzy episode.

'Twilight Peak' now comes from their most recent album, and am surprised that was the only song taken from it, I thought people from Loreley (this was by the way, recorded at the Night of the Prog festival in 2022) would had a feast of it, however, I am sure they were satisfied with this great song that again has a lot of changes in rhythm, tempo, mood and feelings. I think their music is a kind of cinematic. People enjoy it, we can tell by the applauses.

The look at the past comes with the two parts of 'After the War', off their debut studio record, so yeah, some melancholy was brought here. The first part with a pastoral feeling, flute and acoustic guitar give a nice folkish passage. The second part brings the rock and the electronic elements, as well as the vocals, however, the soft sound and rhythm prevails, but there is a wonderful and heartfelt guitar solo in the final part.

The last half an hour of the concert was dedicated to their most acclaimed studio album, 'Krasna Hora', released back in 2019 prior to pandemics times. The order was almost in reverse, taking the last four songs of that album but playing them from last to first (almost). I like the last part of 'The Last Journey' with hypnotic, firm and energetic keyboard notes that go together with drums, bass and guitar, in a powerful passage I enjoy a lot. When it vanished they start playing 'Silent Departure', in a soft way, as the title suggests. This might be my least favorite track / part of the concert, but anyways, its all a matter of tastes, and its all part of the set.

With 'Shared Isolation' the band brings more dynamism, energy and their blend of musical styles which is quite balanced, by the way. Odd-time-signatures, some changes again, jazz, rock, experimental; great musicianship, a complete experience. This is a very creative song and maybe my favorite one from this whole performance, love the bass lines and the bombastic and explosive keyboard work at the end of it. And the final act of this concert is 'Alone at the Institution', a kind of gypsy-folkish-proggy instrumental feast that make people shake their bodies, move their heads, enjoy the experience. Vocals appear at minute six in a kind of soft interlude that lasts for a couple of minutes and then, the song return into its original and explosive form until it finishes.

A very nice performance ideed, a fast revision through their catalogue, a concert I am sure the audience enjoyed, and a nice opportunity for us, listeners from all over the world, to get to know Blank Manuskript better.

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