ARCANA (ACT 1)

Mystery and Music

It's always a risk- and Argentine multi-instrumentalist RODRIGO SAN MARTIN appears to be a risk-taker- to start one's album with a 5 Star epic track.

Had that been the entirety of "Arcana (Act 1)"- which of course suggests there may be more to come- this review would have been an awed, impressed patch of fulsome paragraphs describing why and how this reviewer came to this conclusion.

Concept

Arcana (Act 1) explores the golden thread in spirituality and in life- which at least to me means music. RODRIGO explores this golden thread through various ancient and more modern civilizations and folk traditions, ending with his "Sinfonia Arcana", a combination of orchestral music and filled out with the accoutrements of rock music.

Throughout the album, beginning with the astonishing "Ouroboros (Prelude)", a variety of mostly female voices in several languages, express this golden thread, either in chants, wordless vocalizing, or singing.

Ouroboros

This one deserves some attention, for I believe it to be magnificent. At least in my opinion momentum slows and the rest of the album varies in interest and scope, after this opening track.

The cycle of life, the symbol of infinity with the dragon- or serpent- swallowing its own tail- is the concept upon which the rest of the album is built. RODRIGO pulls out all the stops, with a busy, ebullient opening with rumbling bass and bright keyboards- and very active drumming.

This track is characterized by tight, well-wrought composition comprising sophisticated meter and mood changes. The gentle guitar chords introduce hushed, breathy vocals and there is growing intensity, which then subsides. We hear muted trumpet crying, and (I'm not a drummer) bongos? are ushered in.

There are some jazz-fusion passages, and lovely female vocals- the music builds and we transition into a folk-tinged, flute-led passage. Then what's this? Majestic cathedral organ signals change! Ferocious drumming kicks in and a magisterial passage erupts. Melody is a real strength, and RODRIGO's guitar work is pretty fine.

Ethnic/Folk Cultures

Each of the rest of the tracks give voice to a panoply of traditions, often with folk instruments and varied languages, ranging from ancient tribal drumming and sounds, to the more modern.

It is definitely a point of interest and strength to see the vast array of musicians and musical styles RODRIGO has assembled- just check out the astonishing list of participants and instruments. Most of these were fine to excellent musicians, while the compositions themselves ranged from fairly simplistic to sophisticated.

Almost all were augmented with RODRIGO's progressive rock touches and instrumentation, with varying success.

Successes

For me, the lively "The Eternal Fire" with didgeridoo and lots of tribal drumming and chants was riveting. "Hurrian Hymn to Nikhal" was appropriately exotic and haunting, and both boasted fine female vocals. "Mother" was a sweet lullaby with lovely Japanese (?) vocals.

Less So

"Lindisfarne (Ramund)" had some nice Gaelic ambience and fiddle/guitar interplay, yet didn't grip me. "The Minstrel (Burn the Witch)" featured some female vocals that I thought showed some intonation problems- and in general too I thought some of the lyrics and voices got lost sometimes in the mix.

"L'Estate (Storm) was a vibrant, short re-interpretation of a section of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", and certainly moved along- yet seemed a little misplaced on this album. "Gobi" had its charms with wistful and mystical keyboard chords, moving into haunting vocalizings.

Anticlimax

For me the closing track was anticlimactic- perhaps because of the wondrous album opener. "Sinfonia Arcana" featured orchestration, yet the main theme seemed fairly insipid, even with the baroque flourishes and rock instrumentation added in. It wasn't bad, nor was it terrific.

Sum it Up

Great respect to the multi-talented RODRIGO SAN MARTIN, to the golden thread concept, to the amount and scope of work that this album represents. There's a lot to like here.

There's also the matter of some pacing problems, with the huge open that then becomes much more ordinary. I think it merits 3.5 stars. Good...better than good...not yet excellent.

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