ZALMOXE

Second Wave Proggers hailing from Romania (I'm not sure I'm aware of any of their would-be peers), Zalmoxe is their second studio album (1979). A good example of something that occurs quite a lot on this site: one middle-career album that is absolutely beloved and highly heralded collectively amidst other albums that are apparently not up to snuff in comparison.

"Ursitoarele" starts everything off with a sort of medieval vocal section. And as the vocals come in, in my experience, this is squarely Eastern European. I feel as though some of my first tastes of Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso sounded somewhat like this, though, too (I guess the Romantic ties are stronger than I realized). Around minute 3, the vocals fall away and it is an instrumental blaze of excitement. Certainly worth hearing once. Guitar and drums are aflame above soft keys. The vocal melody in this second half is also quite nice.

"Blana De Urs" is very bright and immediately reminds of Supertramp, but also melodically of bands like Starcastle and Citadel. Great track. Really great vocal harmonies with some awesome memorable melodies. With a shared theme, "Mierea" enters in cool and spacious. The cymbal bell strikes are reminiscent of ITCOTCK. The synth pads are very of the time. As collected and close as this track is, it has a great rhythm. Excellent, feeling guitar solo here. "Pestera" comes off the former with a very different feel: Mid-Eastern(?) with really cool percussion and what sounds like sitar; it features a pretty cool synth solo.

"Epiphania" starts off sweet and open with synth padding, then acoustic guitar and balladic vocals. It's lackluster at first, eventually building around minute 2 with synth and epic drums. Very of the time, here in the second half. Sorta reminiscent to something out of Styx's discography, I guess? It hasn't aged exceptionally, though it does have a great feel. Also worth a listen once or twice. Good enough time as any to say that the mix for a lot of the instruments is weirdly low throughout the album. "Furtuna Cu Trup De Balaur" is the first track that really feels like we're in a world that is (unfortunately) all too ready for Neo-Prog. There's still plenty of 'old' holding it back (ya know, in the good way). I thought it was a good track, but some of the choices compositionally, I suppose, were not exactly great. I really cannot place it...

"Calatorul Prin Nori" starts off open and ethereal, like a call to something ancient. The track's English title is "Cloud Traveller" [sic] and... it fits! It's one step away from being ambient. Things build in the second half. Grandiose and yet... static? It was pretty good. The theme of the next, "Kogaion", is a melodic continuation of the former. This is a creeping track, once again hearkening back to something ancient, medieval or hermetic... Looking at the title, I had a thought that maybe it was some kind of callback to Magma's/Vander's Kobaïan alien language [Wouldn't that be something?]. This track is truly sinister... and doesn't really sound like anything else. The way they mixed the drums in both ears is honestly alarming in minute 2... And finally is the "Epilog", low and slow and yet big. When I say 'finally', that is for the original release, so onto the so-called bonus tracks!

"Din Nou Acasa" starts off low and slow, and... relatively uninteresting. Really cool sonic choices though as we approach the midpoint. And then we have... boogie-woogie(?) in "Scufita Rosie". It's honestly pretty cool once it gets going (I mean, that's pretty immediately actually). Very unlike anything on the album. And yet it's one of the most solid things on the album... Prog fans will have to decide for themselves. "Fetele Albine" ("Bee Girls") starts off interestingly enough [Y'all know 'honey f*ckers'(?!), because it wasn't me who told you about them hahahaha]. Pretty cool, of-the-time sonic choices here. Weirdly reminiscent of... Synth Pop? And then truly finally, "Zmeul", a Vaudeville-ready number with rolling keys and drums and optimistic vocals. Really cool is the viol in the second half! Sweet solo. Very quirky. Then... what?! Queen-esque guitar harmonies! Very neat. Sort of reminiscent of Sparks, I do suppose. And that's it!

Bonus tracks considered and not considered, True Rate: 3.5/5.0. Perhaps overhyped, but I'm happy to let people love the things they love [I mean, I love Starcastle and the site doesn't necessarily haha].