HARNAKIS

Although the UK had started the whole neo-prog thing in the early 1980s and then brought it to a more majestic perfection in time for the prog revival of the 1990s, many other bands were getting in on the act during that time from all over the world however most of these one shot artists have been largely forgotten assuming they were noticed at all during their short run. One such band was HARNAKIS which emerged from the city of Tarrgona, Spain and consisted of Santi Calero (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar), Karli Montejano (bass), Lali Belza (lead vocals, keyboards), J.M. Orobitg (electric guitar, acoustic guitar) and Enric Pascual (drums, percussion).

This band released its one and only album NUMB EYES, THE SOUL REVELATION in the 1990s slightly before bands like IQ, Arena and Pendragon would bring a renewed popularity to the neo-prog genre after the Fish-era Marillion years. HARNAKIS delivered a more diverse style than the average neo-band of the day with the usual influences from Hackett-era Genesis as well as the symphonic touches heard from Camel and Yes. The band was clearly looking to its English influences as there are really no traces of any Spanish connection with even the lyrics performed in English. The album features six tracks at 42 plus minutes with the two closing longer track features a series of mini-suites.

The musicians were very talented and performed quite remarkably and the band showcased its excellent compositional writing skills however the weakest link is often cited as the somewhat lackluster vocal performances however the album is probably more instrumental overall than vocal oriented but it is true that Santi Calero's vocals which evoke a Jon Anderson falsetto sometimes don't have the range to get the job done but for the most part they are acceptable. The bands second female vocalist Lali Belza takes the lead occasional and fairs better. The main draw of NUMB EYES, THE SOUL REVELATION are the musical performance themselves as the band breathed a new creative touch to the neo-prog style that infused it with obvious Yes-like motifs as well as touches of space rock from Pink Floyd and beyond.

The proggy constructs have been compared to bands like Asia Minor and that wouldn't be inaccurate but HARNAKIS clearly had a style of its own and offered a more varied style than what most neo-prog bands were cranking out in the late 80s and early 90s. This one seems to get panned but i find it somewhat refreshing and despite the vocals not hitting the high notes of a top dog symphonic prog band i can't say i find them unpleasant in the least. In fact often i find this underdog albums more interesting than some of the more popular influences that went into the mix. A surprise album that belies the fact that it emerged from Spain as the band had mastered the English style perfectly. Nice compositions, decent production and above average instrumental performances leaves me loving this a lot more than pretty much everyone else out there!

Harnakis is one of the most obscure and unknown bands coming from Spain from early '90's. They brought out only one album in 1990 issued by Musea records named Numb Eyes, The Soul Revelation and then disapper into oblivion. Harnakis palys a kind of neo prog quite pleasent most of the time, but overall something is missing, is not consistent in arrangements and aswell the vocal departmen while I like it I think is pale in comparation with other releases from that period. Anyway Harnakis manage to come with good album, keeping in mind that Spain is not an oasis of neo prog bands. They incorporated elements from symphonic/folk zone like Spain's best bands from the '70 Triana comes in mind with neo prog passages. They sound very much like french neo prog band Green Space and their album from same year Behind, even on vocal department is almost same. Well, the opening track The wish is quite great, instrumental crescendo pieces with nice instrumental arrangements, the best pieces are for sure the last two, the longest The Tramp Of The Future and the title track with some great guitar passages and the female vocal parts provided by Lali Belza is more then ok. So, all in all is a nice album, but little unconsistent overall, and is less intrsting then othe rworks from that period. 3 stars, good but nothing more, nice cover arts front/back.

After more than 10 listenings to this album it's still hard for me to determine exactly how good it is. I like the highly melodic aspect of this music but there are also some flaws like the vocals and the production quality.

The Wish is the opening instrumental track showing already nice melodic content. Yet this is not the most inspired/inspiring track of the album. 3,5*.

Next is In the Border Line where some strange vocals appear of the female vocalist (Lali Belza ?) but the other elements of this song are really appealing to me like the fast guitar and the great composition it proves to be as well as very good melody and build up. 4*.

Going from here to there etc. is an extremely short interlude sounding like a darkish theme.

Abydos is also short (4 min.) but this is a substantial song starting with acoustic and electric guitar playing mixed. I suddenly realize this is a quite unique phenomenon and it sounds very interesting. This also goes for the rest of the song, the melody is great once again and it's ultimately one of my favorites of the album. 4,25*.

The Tramp of the Future is the first of two mini-epics that complete the album. Again this one starts instrumentally but it sounds less structured and more messy than previous. After two minutes we hear two male vocalists (Santi Calero and ?) who also don't really have the best vocals I'ved ever heard but it's still bearable. It becomes obvious to me that (and this is actually the case with many progbands) their strengths lie in the compositions and instrumental handling and not in the vocals. The fast guitar playing appears again after 4 minutes combined with scat singing and this goes one for some time until halfway the song the vocals become dominant again singing lyrics once more. It becomes evident this mini epic is actually build up in fractions of two minutes each time. This fifth section also contains fast guitar play but this time without vocals. Sixth and last section let the whole thing end up in a slower style with even nice fade out from the guitar. Interesting song but all in all not as good as previous and next. 4*.

The closing title track is the longest song on the album and feature the female vocals once more. The song starts off relatively quiet and not very impressive. This will not last too long and the last ten minutes of the song and album are clearly reserved for the most spectacular and most impressive of the entire 42 minutes. Both execution and composition reach their peak here and it's all highly enjoyable to me. The build up is stunning. 4,25*.

I believe this effort is hard done by when people state this is just a mediocre or poor performance. I will not go that far to consider this the biggest hidden gem of our site but it certainly deserves credit. I'm glad to have been able to check it out and will play it more often in the future for sure. Four stars are well deserved here.

I've been hunting for that one almost a year - even knowing that it's no masterpiece. OK, I''ve got what I thought of it - Neo Prog collector's item.

HARNAKIS is influenced both by MARILLION and Spanish bands a la TRIANA who used folky motives in their Prog Music. Side A is actually an epic consisting from 4 pieces with only one having female vocals in English (poor vocals, poor English). Side B offers two epics (11'40'' and 13'50'') with the last (name-sake) I like most. Again poor male and female vocals with hardly bearable English, but that's the only thing that makes this album mostly a collector's item (and maybe also low producing quality and flat drumming). The music itself reminds of MARILLION's most gentle and romantic moments from both "Script" and "Misplaced Childhood". Canadians RED SAND now working almost in that vein (minus Spanish influences), so you may happen to need HARNAKIS' album if you're already in love with RED SAND's stuff. Recommended but with a sticker "Neo- proggers mainly".

One of those rare albums from struggling-to-survive prog bands in the 80s. The band issued an album on the Musea label. I bought it because of my confidence in finding a new sound other than your typical neo-prog (Pendragon and IQ). Well, I had and still have mixed feelings about this one. The music is simply gorgeous, driven by the guitar, both acoustic and electric. The acoustic guitar has great classic Spanish influences. The only drawback are the vocals. In English unfortunately. Once more, I guess the band wanted to please the English-speaking public and forgot that they had problems pronounciating correctly the language. Anyway, forget the English and concentrate on the music which has a little Yes influence but very original overall. Could have been a gem. Pity.

A beautiful guitar oriented symphonic progressive album from Spain, this one off is even more impressive for having been conceived during prog's darkest days, well before the revival of the 1990s. It compares favorably to earlier Spanish progressive efforts such as those of IBIO and ASTURCON, but is less ethnically based and seemingly more steeped in the British tradition, while still retaining an innocence missing in British prog since the early 1970s. The lead guitars are mostly gorgeous sounding but occasionally raucous, the vocals in English are more than competent and include both male and female representation, and there is plenty of space for instrumental development and revisiting of themes. This album is very unique and fresh, but yet nostalgic sounding. Highest recommendation for fans of symphonic prog.

Another one of those early Muséa bands that didn't leave much of an impression. Don't get me wrong, it's nice that there were bands back in the 80's and early 90's struggling to keep the prog-rock flame burning. The unfortunate thing is, they didn't seem to be trying very hard.

Musically, this is barely a blip on the radar screen. The tracks are long, but to little effect, set adrift without focus. Instrumentally, the band are OK, but the keyboard sounds are, typically for the time, thin and forgettable. Most likely presets. The vocals (by keyswoman Lali Belza and guitarist Santi Calero, alternately) are hopeless-thin, marble-mouthed, lacking in range or dynamics. Not that singing lessons would have helped put across the ill-conceived English lyrics.

A rather pointless album, a real product of its time, best forgotten. Thank the Heavens Änglagård came along and swept all these types of bands away.