MARCH OF GHOSTS

As with most of Gazpacho's music, I find their indolent approach to progressive rock excellent for background listening. While it is usually pleasant (and in some instances wonderful), the band fails to engage me as a listener in general. However, I highly doubt fans of the band will be disappointed in the least.

'Monument' Like the opening of a dramatic film, this prelude moves with dark chords and a bittersweet violin.

'Hell Freezes Over I' After a clean guitar bit trickles in, so does a methodical rhythm section. The recognizable voice of Jan-Henrik Ohme oozes in thereafter. The strings provide beauty to a despondent piece.

'Hell Freezes Over II' This second part carries on in much the same vein, tinged only by the slightest grunge and met with the kiss of the bagpipes later on.

'Black Lily' 'Black Lily' is definitively Gazpacho through and through, in poignant vocal melody, that ponderous yet redolent musicianship, and their overall ghostly style.

'Gold Star' Adopting slightly Celtic flavors initially, this song is more acoustic-based, growing heavier after a time, and reminding me very much of Phideaux.

'Hell Freezes Over III' This quiet vocal interlude is minimally rendered, with soft piano and violin, though a deep bass and tranquil drums enter later on, building the music to an inspiring level.

'Mary Celeste' Once again, I am reminded of Phideaux in many respects, as this album mixes gorgeous piano and violin with straightforward vocal rock sections, culminating in an Irish jig.

'What Did I Do?' Another peaceful moment, this time enhanced by vocal harmony glissandi.

'Golem' Following yet another slow introduction, the band finally cranks up the amplifiers, offering a simplistic lead guitar over a far more interesting hard rock rhythm.

'The Dumb' I enjoy the light interlude in the middle, which is bookended by further murky and moderate rock.

'Hell Freezes Over IV' As though they had been saving all their energy (or perhaps the distortion pedals were low on batteries), the band finally delivers a heavy rock bit to rouse any sleeping listeners. The very end is like a receding ray of light.

I'm slightly surprised that there have been so few reviews of this album, the latest from this classy Norwegian act, because it most certainly has garnered exclusively positive reviews from across the prog and rock world.

The praise is deserved, and all the more so since this bunch have released March Of Ghosts on the back of three exceptional albums in Night, Tick Tock, and Missa Atropas.

This album is not a pure concept, but rather a collection of stories which, as the title suggests, revolve around encounters with ghoulie ghosties and things that go bump in the night. As with previous releases, the band bring together the themes brilliantly, and on this, the album is wound around four tracks called Hell Freezes Over, much in the same way as Marillion did with Marbles, which was not, contrary to popular opinion, a concept album. All four of these tracks are superb, but I swear that the third one was coated with sheer emotion prior to being released and played through my speakers.

Of course, we have noted in the past similarities between Hogarth-era Marillion and this band, a fact openly and keenly acknowledged by Gazpacho themselves, although, for the life of me, I really do not see the similarity between Jan Henrik Ohme's vocals and Steve Hogarth's. For a start, one sounds English to his core, whilst the other is Nordic. Perhaps it's me, but I think on this album the overt musical similarities are not so profound as on previous releases. Oh, for sure, there is the commonality in that the band utilise complex soundscapes and are able to manage that very difficult trick of allowing the music itself to convey the same powerful emotions as the vocals & lyrics, but in terms of the sound of the album, this is very clearly the sound of a band with extreme confidence taking forward their influences, writing, and performing experience, and melding all into something unique. This is an album which sounds like Gazpacho, and none other.

For no better example, take What Did I Do?, a track which evokes the painful memory and emotion of a poor lost soul, with a choral vocal and plaintive violin accompanying a musical backdrop which, on the first few listens, sounds like a collection of simple chords, but is, in reality, a mood all in itself.

There are some very nice Celtic sounds immersed in the work, and overall, the feel of the album is, despite the title and subject matter, a much more uplifting offering than previous ones. The performances are never less than excellent, and the production is just what you would expect; superb and crystal clear.

I will not review this track by track, because I feel that this is an album which has to be experienced as a whole, and it is, in reality, a collection of songs which merges into one (again, just like Marbles). However, I will say that if I hear a better track this year than Gold Star, a lush track which segues from a lilting Celtic opening into a more heavy and reflective piece, and one which is deceptively commercial, then it will be a very good track indeed. Further, Marie Celeste is so good, it takes you to the deck of that doomed vessel, and is recorded as a folk prog track, with natural and native Celtic sounds right to the fore. The violin simply cries, and the guitar riffs and crashing bass & drums evoke the disaster perfectly. Simply brilliant.

To summarise, this is another excellent release by an excellent band, and the way that they are progressing and developing, it can surely only be a matter of time before they release a masterpiece that will blow the collective socks off of the prog world. As it is, this comes pretty damn close, and the only rider I will attach to this is that it is an album which needs to be listened to a number of times, and requires patience and a deep appreciation of the emotion that music can bring. Not many will "get it" the first couple of listens.

There are eleven tracks here, with the longest at just over six minutes in length, but, as noted before, in reality what we have here is 50 minutes of music, to be enjoyed as one.

Four stars for this. Very highly recommended from one of the finest modern prog bands around.

Excellent "peace of mind" album ...

I think this album is as good as Tick Tock that represents my first introduction to the band, album-wise. Previously I only knew the band from Marillion DVD set (Hogarth era). As you might guess, the name is something related to one of Marillion's songs.

I am really impressed with how delicate the guys in the band made this excellent album as the music is really nice to enjoy from start to end or full album at its entirety. Talking about style and similarity, I would say this is like Radiohead with much more definitive border, music-wise. You know, sometimes is very hard to get the music of Radiohead as you cannot guess where it's heading to or whether or not the music is going to end. Also, the music is quite similar with Marillion Hogarth era even though Gazpacho music is much clear and better - you know the melody as well as its nuances. Vocal wise, Gazpacho is much deeper than Hogarth voice style. Some people reckon this band is quite similar with Coldplay but it's proggier. As I am not quite familiar with Coldplay, I really cannot comment on this. But ....look at the subtleties of the music this band produce - it amazingly there is "feel" component in it which reminds me to Pink Floyd. I am not saying that the music is something like Pink Floyd but there is definitely "feel" i.e. the right timing for entering the music (usually through drum or voices). There are many segments that demonstrate excellent signatures.

What about this? : Marillion "H" + Radiohead + Pink Floyd + Coldplay ...?

Well it's really up to you. One thing for sure: I really enjoy this album from start to end and in most cases I need to replay the album in its entirety. I recommend you play this album LOUD during late night, put the light off plus a cup of hot black coffee (no sugar please ...!). Would be great if you have a decent stereo set, at minimum a NAD power and preamp, NAD CD player plus B&W speaker. WOW! You will get full satisfaction with your music journey if you have this with you ....!

"Monument" (2:06) kick the album off with a sort of unstructured and ambient music that was quite hard to digest at first spin but it grew on me and now has become an integral part that I can not afford not to play this tone setting track. It's strategically positioned at the beginning of the album to give the listeners an indication of what sort of music they will listen to. It seems like the music that follows would be a heavy one

But it's NOT! Listen to the second track "Hell Freezes Over I "(5:46) that enters nicely into my ears and it's really a joy listening especially with its ambient introduction using repeated guitar fills. Observe how drums enter the music in a crescendo style; it's really fantastic. In most cases I add my power amp volume to get full sound of this great entrance of drums. And then ...oh boy ...listen to how deep and powerful the male vocal puts his voice at the beginning of lyrical verse. It's really cool .....! The enjoyment does not stop here, my friends ... The next track "Hell Freezes Over II" (4:37) is another wonderfully crafted music. Even though this is the continuation of previous track but it has different style There are great segments I can feel throughout this track especially the time when there is a change of melody marked by the drums work or vocal or guitar work. All the style are really in slow tempo - but so powerful nuances. The interlude session with unique sort of keyboard sound - or probably other kind of instruments that sound like keyboard, making the music so traditional in nature.

"Black Lily" (4:58) continues the journey with powerful voice in the vein of Muse music - even though not exactly the same. The voice is deeper here, of course. "Gold Star" (4:15) starts off differently with sorts of mandolin or acoustic guitar work combined nicely with violin-like sound. It returns back to the "Hell Freezes Over III" (2:37). I do not know for what reason the band made the series in four parts but with different location in the album - there must be reason for doing that. But, it's really nice. And I am sure you will enjoy the innovative part in "Mary Celeste" (5:44) where you find a unique segment where you have a blend of traditional music performed beautifully by the band. To me this segment happens to be like a big surprise as it comes out at the later location of the entire album. It's really a cool segment. The segment I am referring to is somewhere located at the end of the track starting at minutes 4:15. It sounds like a traditional Scotland music? Am not sure but it's really great!

The rest of the album still in similar vein with previous tracks and they are all good tracks. What Did I Do reminds me to Muse music style.

Overall, this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection that you should not miss at all. It deserves a four-star plus rating. Enjoying the music of this album is like having peace of mind , so good ...so cool. You must have it! Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW