ARCANA (ACT 1)

Sacred Golden Thread

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.

Rodrigo San Martin is an Argentinian composer and multi-instrumentalist I have come across recently, who seems to have his fingers in a very wide range of musical styles, instruments and cultures. His latest album, "Arcana (Act1)" is a 60+ minute journey through so many different sounds, moods, scenes and impressions that it feels like a journey across the globe, and the formation of musicians putting it all together is also quite massive.

This album is advertised as an 8D audio experience that should be enjoyed with headphones, and having gone through its entirety more than once, I can totally understand why. A lot of the music's charm and authenticity comes from its ability to disconnect you from reality and drag you into its own world and imagery, and the headphones experience is crucial in this. There is such a refined and detailed approach to the sonic dynamics, with all sorts of panning effect, sound design, various elements moving in and out of focus that it fully surrounds you. I assume that is also what the 8D audio refers to. It's a truly immersive, unique and surreal experience. On to the music.

The opening track 'Ouroboros (Prelude)' gives you a good dose of just about everything you're gonna encounter in this album. It's a 22-minute composition and it shows elements of prog rock, classical music and various forms of world music, moving from more organic, natural textures to more hi-fi modern sounds and back again. Then, each of the coming tracks seems to take a certain influence as its central theme.

On the prog front, we are presented with an immersive sound, both striking and atmospheric. None of the instruments seems to flash out at any point, despite consistent impressive passages. The guitar riffs have a slightly fuzzy sound, not very penetrating but rather more melodic and textured. The bass has a lot of presence, often coming through stronger than the guitars but also being maintained in a slightly softened manner, and the same could be argued about the drums. The drum parts are very complex, fast, progressive and technically challenging showing a lot of energy in playing. I would say the band performance is quite intense but it is contained in the mix so that it still feels strongly atmospheric. This allows the sound to be both engaging and relaxing, making it work both for an active audition and for background mood-setting music.

When it comes to classical influences, it really goes all the way. The Mbabane Philharmonic Orchestra plays a huge part in the cinematic effect of the music. The sound is often very similar to actual classical music and there are many moments when the orchestra really takes hold in full, with everything else going silent, and you're listening to actual symphonic music. There's even a prog-rock interpretation of Vivaldi's 'The Storm' where both orchestra and band really show off their talent, giving a refreshed face to the classic.

Further influences take a trip around the world, giving us various folk and acoustic sounds on string instruments, wind instruments and various forms of percussion. The second track, 'The Eternal Fire (Ritual)' has a strong tribal vibe with fast percussion and lots of sound effects to paint a scene, voices in the background, chanting but also some electronic effects that weirdly seem to fit right in. 'Mother (Takeda Lullaby)' is a Japanese folk ballad (in Japanese) with delicate acoustic sounds and ethereal female vocals. 'Lindisfarne (Ramund)' is an epic folk cinematic track in Norwegian with a stronger orchestra component. And 'The Minstrel (Burn the Witch)' has a slightly medieval maiden vibe. Every song takes you somewhere else and does it in a different way. And each has a few main themes that are very memorable, my favourite being the one in 'Sinfonía Arcana', an instrumental prog symphonic track. Through all these songs, focused on a different vibe and imagery, the prog sounds, guitar riffs and leads and technical drum passages keep finding their way in and creating some really cool contrasting blends.

There's a lot of personnel here, making this album sound like a prog infused soundtrack rather than a regular album. Rodrigo himself played everything from guitar, bass and keyboard to things like flute and recorder. Then we have quite a number of vocalists and various instrumentalists on violins, sax, trumpet and many instruments I didn't even know existed. Overall, it's a unique and impressive creation, hard to place in any genre but mainly relying on prog rock, classical music, world folk music and soundtrack.

Originally written for The Progspace: https://theprogspace.com/rodrigo-san-martin-arcana-act-1/