WILL-O-THE-WISP

WILL-O-THE-WISP is without question one of my favourite bands from Greece. I remember that debut which is still my favourite from them with that prominent organ, warm vocals and those melodic psychedelic tunes that just seemed to suit my tastes perfectly. This one is my second favourite with their final album rounding out my top three from them. They are a six piece at this point with the usual "rock" instruments plus that floating and sometimes powerful organ along with piano and flute.

"Smoke Suspended In Still Air" has this relaxed and trippy sound with prominent bass as laid back vocals join in. Organ to the fore as the tempo picks up a minute in. Nice guitar solo as well before 2 minutes as the vocals step aside. Vocals are back after 2 1/2 minutes. Love the passion in those vocals 4 minutes in. "The Rabbit Under The Teardrop's Shade(Of Alice)" opens with strummed guitar as vocals join in quickly. Soon drums, bass and organ kick in but then it's vocals and strummed guitar again as contrasts continue. Nice. It picks up in tempo at 2 1/2 minutes as the vocals stop and flute and organ lead the way to the end.

"Shadows Of Daylight" opens with some excellent psychedelic guitar that echoes as a driving rhythm kicks in with organ over top. Vocals before a minute as it settles some. Nice bass here, really good in fact. Love that guitar that arrives after 3 minutes as the vocals step aside. Just a killer instrumental to the end. "The Reaper's Paper Boat" is such a feel good track, so moving at times. It has that VIOLETO DE OUTONO "Volume 7" vibe for me with the organ, vocals and meaningful sound. Flute before 1 1/2 minutes. Gorgeous. A calm after 2 minutes with bass and organ as it builds. Vocals are back a minute later with that beautiful sound. Another calm with flute before 4 minutes to the end.

"Hew A Dream In The Twilight" opens with acoustic guitar and fragile vocals as keys also join in. Vocals will come and go. Kind of a whimsical beginning. That changes as we get some power in the instrumental section before 2 1/2 minutes as drums, bass and organ lead. Guitar 3 minutes in. So good! And this continues right to the end. "Haze Secrets" has this relaxed and trippy sound as reserved vocals join in. Piano, drums and bass standout. It kicks in with power before 1 1/2 minutes Contrasts continue then we get this guitar solo after 3 1/2 minutes. Vocals return after 4 minutes.

"A William Blake's Song" has relaxed piano as we get female vocals for the first time on this album. Some angular guitar as well. It picks up a minute in, nice sound here. It's fuller after 2 minutes with some vocal melodies as well. So good! Male vocals take over after 3 minutes. "Fairies Waltz" opens with guitar that builds then it starts to solo as other instruments join in. Flute replaces the guitar. Nice bass lines before 2 minutes then the guitar returns. Flute replaces the guitar again before 4 minutes. What a ride!

This is just one of those bands that is like comfort food for me I guess. This band from Athens has offered up another solid 4 star album.

Greek band, formed in Athens in 1997 by veteran Greek musicians.They derived their name from the obsure ghost lights seen by travellers during the night, found in many traditional Folklore tales.Will-o-the Wisp's original crew included singer Angelos Gerakitis, guitarist Takis Barbagalas, bassist Kostas Pagonas, female keyboardist Dina Nassi, flutist Nikos Chalikias and drummer Nikos Manousopoulos.Their first self-titled output was captured at the studios of the legendary Greek label Action Records with Sofia Rapti helping out on vocals and Giouli Laska guesting on cello.The album was released in the opening week of 1999, both on vinyl and CD formats.

Will-o-the Wisp played a melodic, British-styled Psychedelic/Progressive Rock with a certain vintage aura as performed by acts like CARAVAN, MARSUPILAMI and CRESSIDA.Lots of dreamy organ parts, some decent but mellow jams and lovely flute lines are the basic elements of their music, which contains also plenty of ethereal vocal tunes as delivered by Angelos Gerakitis, supported by Rapti in several moments.The guitar work is splendid with downtempo, sharp solos and the presence of Hammond organ brings nostalgic memories to mind.Despite the short length of the tracks, there is still much goin' on in each of them and instrumental variety is always present.They remind at times of fellow compatriots PETE & ROYCE with their instant 70's offerings and the heavy use of analog keybards, always linked with British Psychedelic Rock.In general the album follows the more melodic lines of the 70's, but there are still heavy amounts of energy throughout, especially in the jamming parts with the good interaction between the guitars and organ.Light guitar/flute interplays complete a very good work, filled with retro emotions and decent executions.

Interesting first album by Will-o-the Wisp.The Greek scene was not known for producing original groups, so do not expect some very genuine stuff.Expect though some very emotional, well-performed Psych/Prog with constant blinks to the past and anyone after the early days of British Prog will fall in love with the album.Warmly recommended.

If I had to rank the four Will-o-the Wisp albums I'd put this one in third place behind their fresh debut and their breathtaking final album 'A Gift For Your Dreams'. Still, that's not a bad place considering all of their records are very, very good and well worth the trouble of seeking them out. The main difference with this one is that there's nothing to distinguish it from the other two mentioned here. The debut was such a surprise that the impression continues to last. And the final record includes strings (violin) and this music is made to be accompanied by strings of some sort. Also, the two cover versions of "Natural Boy" aka "Nature Boy" are a real treat.

All that said, this is still an outstanding psych/folk/neo-prog album, with none of those labels being any less or more appropriate in than the others in describing the music. As with their other albums lead guitarist Takis Barbagalas delivers long, whiny arpeggios and sustained chords that smack of the finest neo-prog of the eighties and nineties. Dina Nassi's whirling organ passages give the music a retro, slightly psych-tinged flavor, while Aggelos Gerakitis' easy-going and comfortable vocals, along with just the right touch of flute from Nikos Chalikias, give the music a bit of a folk feel at times. It all works together seamlessly.

That's not to say that everything is perfect. At times the band seems to become just a tad bit self-indulgent, as with the rambling lyrical and repetitive organ passage on "The Reaper's Paper Boat" that extends the song needlessly. Or Gerakitis' vocals on "A William Blake's Song" that overshadow those of chanteuse Sofia Rapti toward the end and almost ruin what would have otherwise been a stunningly beautiful delicate ballad.

But these are minor points really, and the strong guitar and flute passages on tracks like "Fairies Waltz" and "The Rabbit Under the Teardrop's Shade (of Alice)" more than make up for any shortcomings elsewhere. And the acoustic guitar lead-in on "Hew A Dream In The Twilight" gives a wonderful, airy balance to the more weighty organ and electric guitar work on most of the other tracks.

This is one of those records that can either be listened to intently, or can just as easily offer a rich backdrop to an evening spent on other pursuits. Either way, the experience is worth the cost of admission.

Easily four stars, as are most of the band's other albums. Forget trying to get your hands on the limited-edition vinyl version of this record, but the CD version is much more easily had and I would assume just as good. Very highly recommended to just about any sort of progressive rock fan, and particularly to those who favor psych and neo-prog. Worth seeking out.

peace

Interesting psychedelic/space rock band from Greece. I happen to find this CD by pure chance and I had it for a long time before I discovered this band was in this site. The music is dreamy, with very good guitar solos, a nice rhythm section and some special guests: there are great flute, organ and violin passages. On the other side I didn´t like the vocals. Angelos Gerakitis has a good voice, but something is missing in that department. The last track has a woman singing lead and it clearly shows a better perfomance.

The band has a sound that clearly shows a influence by those bands from the late 60´s and early 70´s, but it of course much better recorded and produced. Nothing too exciting or new, they could have been a little bolder and more adventurous, but still it´s all very well done. There are no real ´jams´, just some alongated solos and they are all quite tasteful. The CD is a bit short for my taste (a little over 40 minutes). If you like this kind of music you should check it out.

Rating: somewhere between 3 and 3,5 stars. Good, but not essential.

This took a long time to grow on me as I was expecting (hoping) it to sound like the debut from 8 years earlier. It doesn't. They have put out two albums in between these two but they are very hard to find, so I haven't heard them. The biggest difference from this and the debut is that the Hammond organ has been reduced greatly. It was that sound that really made the debut special and had me comparing it to "Volume 7" from VIOLETA DE OUTONO. Not this one. One of the resons for the lack of organ might be the fact that the original keyboard player is no longer with the band, and so we have a guest playing piano and organ on this one.

"Nature Boy" opens with guitar, organ and light drums.This goes on until the vocals and piano take over 1 1/2 minutes in.The contrast continues. The vocals really remind me of Vincent Cavanagh from ANATHEMA. Flute before 4 minutes. "Serpent's Kiss" is an instrumental and I like the melancholic guitar intro. Bass and light drums join in around 2 minutes then the tempo starts to pick up. Organ 3 1/2 minutes in. Great track ! "The Night Twined the Hours" opens with gentle guitar as reserved vocals and piano join in. Organ and more passionate vocals follow. A relaxing soundscape follows then flute joins in.Themes are repeated. "Fairer-Than-A-Fairy" has a beautiful intro and the organ 1 1/2 minutes in is wondrous. Flute 2 minutes in with some prominant bass.

"Flying With Witches" has a heavier sound to it with drums and guitar leading the way. Flute 1 1/2 minutes in as it becomes more laid back. Violin before 4 minutes. "Inward Reflections" opens with acoustic guitar and what sounds like harpsichord. Organ then vocals follow. It's building 2 1/2 minutes in then it calms right down with some deep bass lines as drums and piano join in. The guitar sounds awesome after 3 1/2 minutes then violin comes in followed by vocals after 5 minutes. It's pretty intense 6 minutes in then it calms down one last time to end it. "Sliding Down At The Shades Of Mind" opens aggressively before it settles into a dark mood with bass. It kicks back in then vocals arrive before 2 minutes as it settles again. The vocals become passionate. This is such an emotional section and it returns again after 5 minutes thankfully. Gorgeous. "Nature Boy (Female Vocals)" ends the album with a guest female vocalsist (surprise !). The best part is the guitar solo after 2 minutes that goes on and on.

Very cool looking band by the way (picture in liner notes). So yeah this is different than the debut, but for me it's almost as good now that it's clicked with me. If you can find anything by this excellent Greek band i'd highly recommend you to snap it up. By the way, this album is dedicated to Nikos Chalikias who was the flute player in the band for their first three albums. He sadly passed away in 2005.

I have Tom Ozric to thank for this amazing discovery. The first time I heard it I got pretty excited because they really reminded me of VIOLETA DE OUTONO ("Volume 7"). Both bands feature lots of Hammond organ floating in the soundscape much like what Richard Wright used to do.This band is from Greece but sing in English, and the music is very melodic and tasteful.They dedicate this album to "The new born child and J.R.R.Tolkien".

"Silent Thoughts-Part 1" is the short intro track dominated by piano. "Elbereth (Lonely Queen)" is led by those floating organ sounds with male vocals and light drums. Female vocals add some support too. A tasteful guitar solo before 3 1/2 minutes followed by flute. "A Sign Or A Smile" like the previous track reminds me so much of VIOLETA DE OUTONO, even the vocals. The guitar sounds great before 2 1/2 minutes with some good organ runs a minute later. "Hang On To A Dream" features both male and female vocals. Drums and a fuller sound follow the intro. This contrast continues. Cello before 2 minutes. "Summer Of Life" opens with vocals, organ, drums and bass.The vocals and sound get fuller before 1 1/2 minutes as the contrast continues. Nice guitar before 4 1/2 minutes as the ever-present organ continues.

"It's Time..." opens with a pastoral soundscape including flute. Organ and vocals at 1 1/2 minutes.The tempo picks up 3 1/2 minutes in. Nice bass. Guitar solo 5 minutes in. "Flying Over The Dawn" is a mellow track with organ and flute coming in before 1 1/2 minutes. Male and female vocals too. The drums are more prominant in the next song called "Vision".The organ and vocals stand out as well. Flute 3 minutes in. "Silent Thoughts-Part 2" is like a reprise of the opening song as we get lots of piano to end the album.

I have to echo what ghost of morphy says at the start of his review "Man, I love this album". This record and "Volume 7" from VIOLETA DE OUTONO simply make me feel good, they're like a "pick me up" really. Both are highly recommended.

I sampled Will-O-the Wisp's self-titled debut and I absolutely loved it. It is still one of my favorite albums from this decade: a charming yet deceptively simplistic piece of modern psychedelia. If you were to read my review of that first album, you would find that two things really struck me, those being the vocals and dominating keyboards.

Well, my second sample of Will-O-The-Wisp is A Gift For Your Dreams, and both of those strengths have been diluted. The music is far more guitar driven now. Indeed, when I finally got around to checking the album credits, I found that WOTW was now relying on a GUEST keyboardist instead of having one onboard. How dissappointing! Sure the keys on this release are ok, but Nassi created something special on the first release.

The other change for the worse is in the vocals. Don't get me wrong. Gerakitis is still giving us those eclectic and eccentric performances that sometimes overpower and sometimes fade into the music. But I miss Sofia Rapti. Those few tracks that she sang on the debut, where her lines and Gerakitis's lines twisted around each other, were brilliant. We get a female vocalist on a version of Nature Boy on the last track, but it's just not the same.

Ok, I've mentioned a few negative things (at least relative to their first album) so let me mention one very positive and welcome element on this album. Amalia Kountouri plays one mean flute! On the tracks where she is featured, her understated talent definitely makes itself felt.

One more difference from the debut is that the band has a few instrumental tracks on the album. That isn't really either a positive or a negative, but sure is a difference.

Anyhow, this gets three stars. It's good, but the things that made WOTW compelling for me have largely evaporated.

Man, I love this album. Be warned, though. Retro is what this album is all about.

The most striking thing here is the keys. Expect energetic keyboard parts, but don't expect anything modern or innovative. Honestly, Nassi hits the Hammond and the Rhodes with the same energy and excitement that a young Tony Kaye distinguished himself with in Yes and on the first Flash album. If that's to your taste, you'll love the keys.

The other thing that will really grab your attention is the vocals. Gerakitis delivers some fine vocal performances on his own but when he pairs with Rapti, well.... WOW! Their harmonies twist around each other and dwell on rarely used thirds. It makes tracks like Elbereth and Hang on to a Dream mindblowing.

Anyhow, this is modern spacey, trippy music. The excesses of the genre have been jettisoned, but the core is delightfully intact and engaging. So if you don't mind your psych prog stripped down to it's essentials, you'll love this.

4 stars. Everybody should at least sample this to decide if it's to their taste.

These guys just continue to amaze me. For such a relatively unknown group (at least as far as my side of the pond is concerned), they have a remarkably mature and rich sound. The band seems to add another layer with every new release; in this case that means the addition of strings for the first time since their 1999 debut. But while that album featured a guest cellist, this time the range is expanded a bit with the richly expressive bow of violinist Tasos Papastamou. This simple addition pays great dividends on several tracks, most notably the chillingly beautiful instrumental “Flying with Witches”.

But before that the album delivers a quartet of solid tracks. The opening “Nature Boy” eases the listener into this fantasy-filled record with slow and eerie chords delivered by the band’s longtime guitarist Takis Barbagalas. While the music is principally delivered via guitar, piano and vocalist Angelos Gerakitis, the overall mood reminds me an awful lot of Porcupine Tree’s more somber works. That said, the uniform melancholy of this album is what one typically expects of Nordic progressive metal bands, which is all the more surprising since these guys are Greek. That’s not to say the music is morbid, it’s just that it calls to the imagination dark, still wintry nights on the plains in the same way that so many Norwegian and Finnish bands’ music does.

There seems to be an attempt throughout the album to highlight various instruments on each track. For “Serpent's Kiss” the instrument of choice is the bass, accompanied by both acoustic and wonderful electric guitar rhythm. For “The Night Twined the Hours” the mood slows to nearly a crawl with softly- crooned vocals that build up along with the piano until both the flautist and violinist embellish the ending with melodic woodwind and strident chord sounds. This is one of my favorite tracks on any of the band’s albums that I’ve heard to-date.

Jazznovation keyboardist adds a series of soft organ notes that segue into a repetitive progression to accompany (once again) the flute on another instrumental, “Fairer-Than-A-Fairy”. This song would make a great soundtrack tune for a fantasy film, or just to enjoy while watching the clouds drift by on a cool autumn afternoon.

The longest and most languid tune is the nearly nine-minute “Inward Reflections”, starting off with more piano and acoustic guitar but eventually accelerating to an extended soft-fuzz guitar and violin sequence that recalls the band’s more psychedelic debut album of 1999. Once again the organ provides a late blast of sound to bring the whole thing to a safe landing. The introspective mood here makes the title of the song seem all too appropriate.

Once again the band dips into their early sound with the mellow psych “Sliding Down at the Shades of Mind”, a tune not unlike some of the tracks on Green Carnation’s ‘Acoustic Verses’. If you’ve heard that album you’ll have a sense of the mood on this one.

Finally the band offers an interesting an unusual twist with another rendition of “Nature Boy”, but this time the vocalist is a female (guest Markela Dounezaki), who I can’t find any information about anywhere but whose youthful and mildly accented singing lends a lighter and more playful nuance to this song.

Overall this is easily my favorite Will-o-the Wisp album. I’ve been playing it constantly for several weeks now, with no sign of becoming bored with it. Each listen brings new appreciation for the subtle shifts between instruments and for the seamless way the production manages to blend all the songs together into a solidly cohesive body of work. I’m really surprised these guys aren’t more well-known, although they certainly could be in their part of the world for all I know. No matter, this is an outstanding and creative group of musicians who have once again scored a hit in my book with this, their latest offering. I’m actually tempted to give this five stars, and may come back in time and do so. But for now I’ll settle with a very high four stars and the hope that continued listening doesn’t dim its luster. Highly recommended to just about any progressive music fan of any genre.

peace

Another very good album from the underappreciated Greek group Will-o-the Wisp, even if I have to admit this one doesn’t impress me as much as their debut. Musically it is quite similar to their first, although the various tracks don’t seem to flow together as smoothly as that one despite this being sort of a thematic release. It’s not really a concept album though, as the lyrics and plotline doesn’t connect together from song to song quite well enough to form a complete story; and some songs such as “Ropedancer” and “S.T.3” don’t seem to fit at all. But for the most part the whole thing works well, and the themes of mystic worlds and mythical characters are pretty consistent with most of the rest of the band’s repertoire.

Lead singer Aggelos Gerakitis is solid throughout once again, his clear and slightly accented voice carrying the mostly keyboard and synthesizer-rich instrumentation. Guitarist Takis Barbagalas tends toward arpeggios and long, drawn-out riffs more associated with neo- or progressive metal music than psych, but for the most part the resulting sound comes together pretty well. On subsequent albums this leads to the band taking on a bit more of a derivative sound than occurs here, but for now the band’s sound is still fairly distinctive.

Keyboardist Dina Nassi plays a Fender Rhodes, piano and Hammond organ once again, although he seems to favor the Hammond most of all, and there is very little piano as opposed their self-titled album where he both opens and closes the record with piano-dominated tracks.

Jazz chanteuse Sofia Rapti is back as a guest vocalist, although I don’t know why they call her a guest since she appears on all of their first three albums. This time her role is much subdued though, and we don’t even hear from her until the third song “Queen of Darkness” and not really much after that except some almost wordless backing vocals on “The Message”.

Back to the lyrics for a moment- while the band works very hard to give the impression of being a fantasy-driven, Celtic mystical sort of group, the lyrics tend to be a bit trite and even vague at times. In that respect they remind me a bit of some of Green Carnation’s lyrics; sort of poetic and mildly spiritual but in the end not saying much except maybe to the band themselves and insiders who know what (if anything) they are actually talking about (such as here from “Queen of Darkness”):

“I love the day because I can see the colours;

Now I stand on the edge and I love the night because I can see dreams”

Okay, if you say so.

But this is easily forgiven because these guys are ultimately quite likeable, and their music fits the mood as comfortably as your favorite shirt. I wouldn’t recommend them to people who like Zeuhl or avant-garde or guttural metal or the like, as you probably won’t find much to appeal to your taste for sounds that challenge accessibility. But for fans of indie music, modern folk, mellow psych and contemporary world music, as well as those who enjoy highly keyboard-infused tunes, I would recommend this band and this album. It’s not their best, but it is a very solid three stars and might even have been four had they not spoiled me with their debut. Well recommended.

peace