PANTOKRATOR I

Legedary Estonian band from Tartu, originally named Propaan and formed in 1981 by Erik Sakkov, Riho Kukk and Mait Karm.The group changed several line-ups and names during its career -Pantogrator between 1983 and 1986, Pantograator in 1987 and Pantokrator between 1988 and 1990, but it was always among the most active bands in ex-Soviet Union, performing live in many great festivals and touring extensively.As Pantokrator the band released an LP/cassette in 1990, entitled ''Pantokrator I'', with Peeter Jogioja on percussion, Andres Moro on guitars, Aivar Otsing on bass, Roland Puusepp on drums, Mart Moldau on keyboards, singers Lauri Saatpalu and Anne Turnpu and of course Erik Sakkov in guitars, flutes and keyboards.

Pantokrator seem to have established a sound of their own in this album, which is a nice mix of modern Psychedelic Rock, Folk and accesible Progressive Rock with electronic touches here and there.The musicianship is supported by some nice work on vocals by the group, which have a very folky North-European feeling.Folk elements appear also in their sound, either as reworked rockin' tunes or in a more traditional form, based on keyboard themes.Other tracks escape from this form, having a very atmospheric mood, based on spacey grooves, laid- back guitars and electronic ambiences, like the great ''Itk'' with its fantastic, theatrical female narration or the dreamy ''Jai servi seisma''.A couple of them have also a light Neo/Art Prog approach, where the synthesizers are really upfront but with a very thin sound.This flaw on synths along with the short timelength of the album (only 32 minutes) are its biggest black holes.

Not exactly a lost pear from the ex-Soviet Union grounds, but definitely a very nice work of Art/Progressive Rock blended with folky tunes, which deserves some exposure.Recommended if you run over a copy.