RITES AT DAWN

Unabashedly retro. Incredibly good.

I can not tell if I have a soft spot for bands that openly "clone" or inspired by the sound of the giants of progressive rock of the 70s, partly due to my own lack of experience in this subject, but all I can say is that if all of them are like Wobbler in his Rites at Dawn, then I will develop a crush!

This young Norwegian band has been one of the main representatives of this movement in recent years, but from what I read she was inspired by other bands (Gentle Giant, King Cimson, etc..) To compose the dark sound of his next two albums. But Rites At Dawn they returned to the Yes and composed an album that can certainly be compared to Fragile and Close to the Edge (though not reach to the efficiency of these masterpieces).

Here the band uses the typical instruments you hear in one of these albums: acoustic guitar/ soaked blues-guitar (Steve Howe), a pungent and notorious bass (Chris Squire), a portion of pianos, Hammond organs, synthesizers and mellotrom (Rick Wakeman) , simple but refined drums (not as jazzy as the Bill Brufford, perhaps) and a singer in a tone much like that of Jon Anderson. Add other instruments like a flute (which seems to be more reminiscent of Genesis), saxophone, glockenspiel and even a bassoon and what we have? An album unapologetically nostalgic already among the bests of the year, in my opinion!

The 45 minutes (average length for an LP) of Rites At Dawn are composed of seven songs, two of which are basically the same passages, which open and close the album (Lucid and Lucid Dreams). These two short songs do not do much for me, only represent sounds that do not give any idea of what's to come. With La Bealtaine things get much better. This song uses various ideas and themes that are beautifully presented (the use of the guitar is brilliant). Below is the album and reached the mini-epic In Orbit, the longest song here, with 12 minutes. And wow, that music - although I still think she should be in the position of The River (and vice versa), just to be more epic and complex, giving a close fit to this album. For me it is almost impossible to describe it.

"Side B" opens with the beautiful This Past Present, a song that surrounds me every time I hear it. Unfortunately the same can not be said of The Faerie's Play, which employs a similar structure but does not pass the same emotions. Fortunately the brightness of the album is taken up in The River, the second mini-epic, whose only fault is not having an instrumental section longer and more complex - although it has a chorus member "glue" in your mind. The end of the album is equal to the first, and I think it could have been better spent.

But these defects do not take my surprise to hear an album so rewarding. While not the best of the year is certainly in the Top 10. 5 stars!

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