GARGULA

Very classic orientated album led by the violin of Kleber Vogel. He isn't a virtuoso, but music is very nice. A mix between melodic rock a la CAMEL and majestic classical musicians. All instrumental, the homonymous track is the best, but the whole album is very good.

In the vein of Quaterna Requiem, another Prog Band from Brazil with classic approach, by using a pretty violin and some keyboards reminding of those ones in the "the Snow Goose", especially the unplugged pieces, They try to build an acoustic symphonic atmosphere... of course Kleber Vogel is not equal for instance to Marcus Viana (composer from Sagrado Coracao da Terra), this latter being much more versatile, but his job is anyway remarkable! However I think of some classic music experimentations within the albums by After Crying for example and soon I forget the present album, but it depends on my personal tastes obviously!!

Make your own choice!!

Here is a Brasilian one shot band with their debut CD Gargula. They are assisted by the Brasilian Symphonic Orchestra (flute, oboe, fagot and cello), especially the opener Abertura features these classical musicians along bombastic keyboards. On the rest of this strong album you can enjoy a dynamic blend of classical, jazzrock and symphonic rock. The level of the musicians is high and the compositions sound alternating: sensitive electric guitar and flute in Zenith, harpsichord in the titletrack, wonderful interplay between cello and violin in Notorno, mandolin in Runas and a bass soli in Kaizen. All songs are loaded with soli on keyboards, guitar and violin (electric, acoustic and MIDI), played by ex-Quaterna Requiem member Kleber Vogel (often evoking JL Ponty). If you don't have a problem with the frequent soli, this CD is a fine discovery!

As I understand this definition, symphonic should mean symphony, something melodic, nice, pure beauty. And that's exactly what Gargula is. Despite ugly name, this is calm, almost "Tarka" like music. Of course, that's not all that can be found here. In fact, this music is changing its style almost every song, drawing inspiration from various sources, I'm almost afraid to think about from where, because it would be big list.

There's really not much to be said (as previous reviews shows, there is no 500 word review and I probably do know why), except my words and words said by others. First track reminds me Warcraft 2 music combined with "The Enid", they sometimes uses MIDI music, which feels almost like using electronic drummer, but not so bad.

5(-), but I have quite weird feeling about this. I like it, but it makes me wonder. It's not instant stunner, melodies aren't prominently catchy (even I like the melody), but there's something odd here.

EDIT: Still making good times to me while I'm listening it. Combination of old-classical-instruments with synths is of undisputed quality. Quaterna Requiem is close relative, but Gargula is little bit better. Music slowly flows forward and you are taken by beautiful dreamy landscapes (or skyscrapers, one of them), or even PlaneScapes (try to fit this music on this perfect game and you, or even I am stunned by it, how nicely it works together) presented here. It surely takes time to find this record, because it's quite rare you know. For me, it's not "JUST ANOTHER" symphonic band, for me, it's unique band with unique sound that, even sometimes similar to other artists (mentioned Camel and Quaterna), manages to be "himself". And by "he" I mean The Sound.

Very nice band from Brazil. This is their only work to date and it is totally instrumental, with very strong classical roots. Violinist Kleber Vogel leads this project with talent and I really like the inclusion of the mandolin on some tracks. While the music on the CD´s first half is not really my favorite kind of symphonic prog (too classical music and not enough rock), I have to say they are very good on what they do and I throughly enjoyed the CD. The album´s second part is where the best stutff is (it is more rocking). Runas is the song I like the most, with many variations and a fine synth solo in the middle. It reminded me of Italian symphonic prog rock of the 70´s at its best and it brings back memories of some other brazlian bands at the time like Terço. The last track, Kaisen, is also a highlight where the prog and classical elements fuse perfectly for a great moment of beauty (Vogel´s has his best solo here). All the musicians are skillful and the production is quite good.

It is only a pity that they didn´t release anything since then. They certainly have an enourmous potential to go much further and I hope they will release a second album someday. My rating: 3,5 stars.