ALMAGEST

Egyptian Kings purpose is to "create a sound characterized by a dissolution of logic, space, time, body language and limits, which would culminate in a fusion unity with the universe, along with feelings of happiness and peace". Since your first listening to this album, you find that this is true.

Almagest was released in 2006, in a very small release of only 50 copies. They are from a city from North Portugal, Braga, 50 Km away from Porto. However, as it is said in their site, "In a night of cosmic rain, four boys, coming from four distant points of the Universe, meet and decide to form a band." This is their spirit. Cosmic rain is a good reference to their space music and the union of human beings to the Universe we live in. Secondly they are out of any referential, time or space, as they come from distant points in the same Universe, and the only thing they've got in common is their own existence, no matter when or where it happens, that is not interesting as they try to do the dissolution they say, including their body existence. This travel finally ends up in peace. The voyage itself is peaceful and very calm. If you are a fan of soft, calm, peaceful and even inspiring music, this record is for you. The record has this name because of the astronomical treatise written by Claudius Ptolemaeus in the 2nd century. This treatise explained and described, among many other things, the apparent stars movement, so one of the songs is called "Cosmos Celestial movement". In the spoken sentences that are heard in some songs, other topics are touched, such as capitalism, pollution and the possible self destruction of the Earth.

Now, let's make this travel again, song by song:

The album begins with "Murmurs" that segues to "Pale White Dot". The first one is a wonderful introduction that leads to the best song of the album, which a masterpiece in my opinion. The flute and keyboards enjoy their best moment in this 9 minute epic. This song and its introduction (track 1) are the best moment of the album and are a masterpiece. After this fabulous track, another epic, a bit longer (15minutes), that unfortunately is far in terms of quality from "Pale White Dot". "Low Mass Stars" is my least favourite song in the album. It's boring from the beginning to its middle part, and only becomes more interesting closer to its end. For me it's the weakest point of the album. The next two songs are very good, with the right ambient being provided by synthesizers. The album ends with "Cosmos Celestial Movement", and much like the "Murmurs" introduction, this song is perfect for the conclusion, again the flute is very good and the style has clear orient influences, in my point of view.

So, in conclusion, this is a very interesting album that makes us travel in the Universe, in a trip that only stops when the music finishes, music that gets us to a world of peace and harmony. Good effort by this Portuguese band, that gets 4 stars from me, mainly because of the excellent moments that gives me. But that doesn't happen at any time, because of some boring moments, so it is 3 stars