A SZAVAKON TÚL

Came across Hungarian band Tabula Smaragdina on a random YouTube listening occasion and it was such a pleasant surprise. Had to do a little research, there's one abandoned Facebook page and a few articles online.

The band started out as a jam band, friends playing together songs from UK, Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Liquid Tension Experiment and Platypus. Later they started working on original music and the "A szavakon túl" album was born.

Despite the fact that they were playing Dream Theater and some songs from related side projects, their music is more vintage, the DT influence is not that obvious. There are many moments when I found influences of The Flower Kings and even Yes.

The album starts with a beautiful acoustic piece called Amethyst. Beautiful melancholy. A nice way moving into some radio noise to really start the album with a bombastic symphonic prog intro with moog, mellotrons, hammond organ. Words in Hungarian. "A szavakon túl" is a strong composition with heavy bass playing and great guitar solos, interesting time signatures and many great moments. The outro of the song gave me goosebumps. These guys knew how to write good songs.

Tél - Winter is the closest to Dream Theater (there are a few direct quotes, I think), I love the powerful bass guitar lines and the drums. Very good rhythm section.

Egyszerű játék is a mellow tune with lush vocals, it could be on a Lenny Kravitz album. The bridge is beautiful in 7/4. The chorus brings in the mellotrons and the minimoog with ethereal female backing vocals. Catchy, melodic, lovely.

Naplemente is an acoustic piece with additional mellotrons, moog and a beautiful coda with female vocals, all of these in a pleasant mix.

My Electric Cat is something crazy... narration from Porky Pig, looney tunes style noises, funny vibes, Gentle Giant- esque weirdness. Loving it! Idiotic waltz moments with noises followed by atonal and chromatic lines in unison. "Pussycats is the craziest peoples"

Az átutazó has a very clever intro and it changes into a lush verse. The bridge has some Dream Theater references in a very delicate way (from the Images and Words era). The chorus brings some mellotron beauty with female backing vocals. The guitar solo is on acoustic, such a pleasant surprise.

Álmok fénye is a ballad, not the strongest moment of the album, but it's beautiful, especially when the female backing vocal enters the chorus. The soprano saxophone solo is a real treat. Beautiful pop-prog song.

Lehetnél brings some Kings' X vibes, a guitar driven tune in 4/4. The bridge has mellotron again with some nice filtered vocals. The ending is very Trevor Rabin era Yes, in 7/8. Nice guitar-synth works. The chorus has earworm qualities. One of the highlights of the album.

A szavakon túl is the most melancholic and yet most beautiful song on the album, a nice way to end an interesting album with. Moogs, beautiful piano, great bass and a very powerful chorus at the end, summarizing themes from the album, definitely the most beautiful moment on the record.

All in all it's a pity that this project stopped working after releasing a few more songs after this album. They recorded songs for Musea's VA Dante Trilogy album and the Flower Kings tribute CD.

I can highly recommend this hidden gem from Hungary. Symphonic prog with great tunes, catchy choruses, nice playing, fine instrumentation, unusual changes. Two members from this line-up are playing on the new Yesterdays album, so I guess Tabula Smaragdina has a really nice afterlife.

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