RITUAL

For me this is the first turning point in the career of Nemrud. Before this album, the debut was mainly a mix of psychedelic and rock, now it is a step forward towards the solid progressive rock scene. The overall mood on this album is relaxed and very atmospheric, but it can as said earlier on, from time to time be fairly heavy.

"In My Mind" a perfect start to the album and one of my favorite tunes of Nemrud. Excelling on any way possible including lyrics and emotion. This is a journey of musical ecstasy.

"Sorrow by Oneself" is quite catchy and is quite love at first sight due to the beautiful melody then the song explodes into an epic with the whole band joining in.

"Light" Just an excellent mellow short song. Say no more!

The album ends with "Ritual", which essentially to any fan of Pink Floyd and Eloy will remind their early days with a creepy sounds that is soothing to the ear and is a great introduction. Soon, gentle and very phased guitar chords are played over a steady bass/drum beat for the next few minutes. Mert Gocay's vocals on this track are very echoey and very other-worldly. The extended outro has very retro overtones, and the guitar solo at the end fits very well over that. In short, this is 18 minutes of progressive nirvana.

Mert Gocay did a an excellent job on creating the signature Nemrud sound. He is leading band to more symphonic way with this album. I have two grouches; first one is about drum on this album; there are two different drummers played two albums, I like old one unfortunately. This one is way too calm/easy for the record and it appears as very oppressiveness with the sound. Second is record quality, I listened this record in various set-up but the sound is thick and deep hiss sound.

Anyway, here is my conclusion: Nemrud's musical tempo almost never exceeds medium and on Ritual tends to be more in the medium slow range. Listening to this and debut album, I hear influences from numerous other bands. Like many prog bands I hear Pink Floyd and Eloy but I also hear Camel, Nektar and Moody Blues.

Trippy, aerial, floaty and representing well the fantasy atmosphere of the 70's, Ritual will be a delight for newbies and veterans, looking for a new band to give an ear.