KARDA ESTRA

Still, I find no problem enjoying this, as neither should you, I supose, if you were into a rather abstract kind of composition, mounted on a free but always ear-friendly harmonic setting.

Anyway, I can't say that this record may be an "essential" listening.

The opening epic (and title song) (9:15) presents a veritable musical companion to the literary reference material. It may be Richard's most classical-sounding piece yet (partly due to the lack of vocals). (10/10)

"Lucy/Festina Lenta" (6:37) creates a spaciously eery soundscape that conjures up Edgar Allan Poe-like venues: lots of dark, empty Victorian country home hallways. The layered vocals of Ileesha Bailey--quite unique in Prog World and quite welcomed, even relished, by this prog reviewer--are present in full-force yet never over used or never used as the main focal point or even melody carrier. They are like statuary, candles, and hidden doorways in the dark mansion hallways. (9.5/10)

3. "The Land Beyond the Forest" (6:08) opens with three ominous hits of a strangely effected piano which is then followed by what sounds like plucked dulcimer or tubular bells, or zither or even the piano strings plucked from inside the casing. The whole soundscape developed after that can only be called scary, threatening, blood-curdling, and the like. Amazing use of percussion and single hits or single notes of a multiplicity of classical orchestral instruments flit in and out while a single church organ chord and background militaristic "exploding bomb shells" provide the insistent reminder of time passing. Oboe provides the first lead runs--an angular, obtuse kind of melody and monologue--while other instruments flash in and out beneath and within. And then to end with a solo flute! Wow! (9.5/10)

4. "Mina" (6:12) has always been my favorite song from the album--but now I realize because it was only because it was the prettiest, the most near-"normal," the least scary, and the most accessible. Piano, chor anglais, and vocals do most of the work to engage the listener in a calming, disarming way. But then, this being a Draculan world, some disturbing, even diabolic sounds cannot help but invade our peace and repose. Can Mina's innocent beauty win out or will the demonic undead dominate her? The tension of the "battle" mounts the further the song. (9/10)

5. "Kisses for Us All" (13:18) is a song whose titular significance or reference point is lost on me because I don't know all of the vampire/Dracula literature, thus the slow, constantly ominous tension of this one seems incongruous with the act of bestowing kisses on us all. But, in terms of another neoclassical composition, this one is good, maybe not quite as great as the other four. It wends and wanders but never really reveals its hidden secrets to me. (8/10) I cannot rate the songs individually because they are all so perfect, so virtuosic in their expression of this timeless story.

Though this album requires one's full attention in order to really allow its full effects to sink in, it is, in my opinion, without a doubt another masterpiece of musical expression of a literary theme. How lucky we are to have Richard Wileman and Karda Estra to provide us with such soul-affecting intellectual delicacies!

Five Stars; a masterpiece of neoclassical Gothic "Night Gallery" chamber music.

1. "Prelude To A Dark Vortex" (1:52) gorgeous opener in church-like bombastics with lots of minor chords and atmospherics. So regal! (9.5/10)

2. "The Fermi Paradox" (3:19) awesome song with Paul Sears' perfectly fitting drumming. Great chord progressions and cool off-beat bass play. My favorite song on the album. (10/10)

3. "Ceres" (1:36) minor Spanish-style guitar-based song with the gorgeous oboe play of long-time collaborator Caron De Burgh. Another gem. (9.5/10)

4. "Obelisk Of Cruithne" (6:46) is a return to darker times. Mostly a solo affair, Richard uses some very odd sounds and sound combinations to keep the listener on edge. Dissonance and melodrama with little or no melody. (8/10)

5. "Anatomy Of The Heavens" (4:48) gorgeously nostalgic. Piano and clarinet shine. Haunting melodies. Problem is that it doesn't go anywhere; it's an awfully long song for such sustained simplicity. (9/10)

6. "Solar Riviera" (6:42) nice soundtrack music. Very French. The eerie "saw" synth in the background is a cool touch. The two brief interlude/breaks are also a nice touch before the transition to different sounds and drumming. I like the 'thickening' of the musical soundscape in the fourth and fifth minutes and the horns in the final third. (9/10)

7. "Legacy Of Theia" (4:21) It's so nice to hear Ileesha's voice! A gorgeous acoustic guitar-based song with, again, all kinds of unusual sounds and textures combining to convey the 'story'. The tinny percussion-like keyboard sounds are my favorites--and there are a lot of them here. Interesting fade/outro. (9/10)

8. "Kklak!" (3:45) pure dissonance and questionable substance. (7/10)

9. "Free Fall On Tyche" (4:51) back to some of the Burt Bacharach-like sounds that we heard on 2013's Mondo Profondo. Ileesha's vocalizations are, of course, the highlight of the song--with the horns. So nice to hear the full horn and woodwinds interacting. The bass guitar is a little monotonous but overall, this is a nice song. (9/10)

10. "Nemesis" (5:35) bass clarinet and percussion alternating with a chorus of Ileesha and organ. Interesting and often surprising but also hypnotic. (9/10)

Definitely my favorite album of KE's from this decade, despite the stylistic eclecticism and the lack of (enough) of Ileesha's wonderful vocals. A four-plus star album that I highly recommend. Check it out!

KE's 2009 album is possibly, to my humble ears, the finest work to come from Richard Wileman. I haven't heard quite all of his CDs, but I have been lucky enough to review most of them, and here is a work of such depth and power to make even the most hardened cynic stand up and take notice. Richard has moved to the dark side and made music that is full of the joy and delight of Hammer House of Horror, yet without the gore and more than enough light to counterbalance the shade. Every track is a delight, with "Skulls In The Stars" potentially my current personal favourite. The orchestration is spot on, the combinations of musicians and Ileesha's wordless vocals combine together to bring together that is light and airy yet ominous and brooding all at the same time. This really is music that belongs on the soundtrack of a major film and I am stunned that he has yet to find a wider audience.

Still, those who have been lucky enough to come across his work before should be searching this album out with urgency ? and if you haven't then this couldn't be a better place to start. And guess what? If you go to Richard's website at www.kardaestra.co.uk he is currently selling all of his CDs for just £5 including worldwide postage!! Richard has been creating some of the most wonderful symphonic/orchestral/cinematic music in the UK for some years now, and if you haven't investigated his work until now then you owe it to your ears to start. This is a joy from start to finish ? depth and simplicity combining with melody and sometimes dischord to create harmony and balance. I can't say too much about this ? it is simple wonderful.

Originally appeared in Amplified #109, 2010

I have been a fan of Richard Wileman's work since I first became aware of his previous band, Lives & Times, yet I was surprised to see that this 2007 release was actually his eleventh as Karda Estra. The concept this time is of a man who exchanged his soul for a life of indulgence and the inevitable sadness when it comes to an end. Richard has again brought together a strong line-up to assist him in bringing this story to musical life, and as always has delivered an instrumental album of incredible complexity and depth. In previous reviews I have often commented on the cinematic quality of his work, combined with a great breadth of almost orchestral stylings. This album contains those elements but is now very tightly focussed with some almost jazz-stylings from the brass and woodwind. It is also interesting to hear Richard adopting some of the rockiest guitar playing I have heard from him on "Life Drawing" which is very much in direct contrast to "Atom Of Warmth".

I have been playing a lot of Antony Phillips in recent weeks and I can hear some of the same use of instrumentation and acoustic guitar here, especially when Richard produces some of his acoustic touches. Interestingly there are also sections that are quite reminiscent of Steve Hackett, but there is no way that his could be considered a homage to Genesis! Yet again Richard has produced a stand out work that lovers of good music are encouraged to discover for themselves. It may not be rock, it may not be jazz, it may not be truly classical, but as an amalgam of all three plus much more, this is a delight from the first note to the last. www.kardaestra.co.uk

Originally appeared in Amplified #109, 2010

Originally appeared in Feedback #88, Jun 2006

Originally appeared in Feedback #82, Jan 2005

Originally appeared in Feedback #80, Jul 2004

In 1997 Lives & Times released their final album, 'Hoarse', on their own No Image label: at the time they were a duo, comprising Richard Wileman (all instrumentation) and Ileesha Bailey (vocals). A year later they were back in a new incarnation, Karda Estra, being joined now by Zoe King (flute, clarinet) and Rachel Larkins (viola). 'A Winter In Summertime' was their first mini-album, with seven instrumental tracks and just over twenty-seven minutes long. For some strange reason, I never heard this when it was released, so some nineteen years on I'm coming across it for the very first time.

Right from the off this is classic Karda Estra, as Richard combines all the instrumentation plus Ileesha's wordless vocals into something quite magical and special. This is a soundscape, a musical feast for the ears. Richard, to my mind, is one of the most important composers of modern classical cinematic music, creating images and drama with wonderfully layered arrangements and perfect juxtaposition of different instruments and sounds. Using Ileesha as another instrument adds to the other worldliness of the album, and combining this with gently picked classical guitar and a lighter curtain of sounds is simply wonderful. There is so much depth within this album, it just draws in the listener so that nothing ese exists except the new world of Karda Estra. It goes from lulling to something more frantic, and the switch between the end of "The Excavation Site" and the introduction to "Transference" is quite mean, as I found myself quite rudely awakened from a dreamlike state. I may be nearly twenty years late to the party, but I am so very glad that I finally got there.