NEMRUD

The band's debut JOURNEY OF THE SHAMAN was released in 2010 shortly after the band's formation and is a concept album about the journey of a shaman named Mitos who lives on the steppes of Central Asia and one fine day receives an unexpected message from "the other side" or should we say the spiritual realm directing him to change his life path and pursue the world of higher spiritual endeavors. The album is broken up into three long tracks that are in turn broken down into multiple suites. The album is just over 45 minutes long and features not only the trio but also a few guest musicians on keys, bass and drums.

One of the rare examples of a progressive psychedelic rock band from Turkey, NEMRUD is primarily influenced by the 70s bands such as Pink Floyd and Eloy and records with vintage instrumentation to achieve the same effects. The three sprawling tracks represent the three kingdoms of Shamanism and the belief system that they espouse. As the story goes the theme revolves around the connections of the living and the dead and the spiritual realms beyond. Musically the band's sound is rather sparse with the majority of the album sounding like a proggy alternative rock band with the standard guitar, bass and drum set up. Keyboards do enter the scene at key moments but not used as much as i would've guessed.

The compositions adopt the basic progressive rock principles of crafting multiple movements that constitute a larger sum of the parts however the concept of JOURNEY OF HTE SHAMAN doesn't match the band's musical innovation. To my ears this album sounds like what i wold call garage prog with rudimentary guitar riffs, bass grooves and a rather unsatisfying simplistic percussive drive. Coming from Turkey which has developed some fascinating traditional folks sounds including Anatolian rock, NEMRUD seems to eschew any homegrown influences for the sake of emulating the psychedelic rock majesty of primarily Eloy as well as nods to Pink Floyd and others. Unfortunately the tracks don't really expand into grandiose musical compositions and for the most part remain more streamlined without lots of time signature changes or unexpected developments.

If this review doesn't sound too enthusiastic it's because i don't really get too excited about NEMRUD's debut. The entire thing sounds like a discrepancy between musical ability and fertile imaginative ambition. The album turns me off in two major ways, firstly lead vocalist Mert Göçay just doesn't have a very powerful voice that elevates the music beyond the ordinary and likewise the drumming style of Harun Sönmez is pretty much set to simmer. The rough alternative rock tones and timbres derail the psychedelic effects and the suites don't offer a lot of variation to set them apart. Not a lot of psychedelic production tricks either. It's not a bad listen by any stretch of the imagination but it's also not developed to the point where it sucks you in and takes you on that shamanic journey that the album suggests it will. One of the more popular prog bands from Turkey but this debut is a bit weak for my liking. The band step things up big time on its next album "Ritual."

The detail above also summarises the album as a whole - the lyrics can make you grimace at times but if you focus more on the composition as a whole it is solid. In between tracks there is quite a lot of hiss for whatever reason, which is a bit irritating.

2. Sorrow by Oneself (7:46) - First half is incredibly Eloy. See 'Point of No Return'. As above the lyrics are a little weak but overall a decent sounding first half of the track before the second half returns to a style more reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Animals. Surprisingly though before this really gets going we switch to quite an upbeat riff towards the end of the track which again finishes with a lot of hiss.

3. Light (2:18) - A short dreamy number which doesn't add much other than to build into the final epic-length title track.

4. Ritual (18:24) - The intro to the track does its name some justice, with tension-building off-key piano and percussion easily evoking imagery of a dark sacrificial rite of passage. Again, the trick here is to avoid listening to the exact lyrics and focus on the mood and melody of the track which is very very good. Essentially, pick any of the most popular prog albums of the late 70s/early 80s and you can probably pick out similarities to parts of this track. There's even a point half way through where if you're not paying attention you'll think you're listening to Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing. Against my better judgement I quite like it, even if later on the lyrical torture ends at a peak: "go to sleep and dream again... soon your hopes will rise and then... from all this gloom life can start anew... and there'll be no fear soon". After this though there's another 5 instrumental minutes so you're able to forget the lyrics as the tune appears to slow to a close, only to start back up again with a powerful and dark sounding final thrash which i'd compare to Porcupine Tree's Signify. I'd even go far as saying that this final section of darker, heavier prog is the piece de resistance of the album, and the reason why at the last minute I've bumped this up from 3* to 4*. Finally, that "spaceship" from the start departs into the white noise hiss.

The album contains 3 parts (between 11 and 18 minutes), each part is divided into 3 or 4 sections.

The first part alternates between dreamy and compelling interludes, the combination of English vocals with an obvious accent and the sound of the guitar and organ strongly reminds me of known German proggers Eloy (Inside- Ocean era). Part 1 ends with slow synthesizer flights and sensitive guitar runs, wonderful cosmic prog! The second part features a space rock sound that brings Steve Hillage to my mind. We can enjoy pleasant work on the fretless bass, twanging acoustic guitar and an accellaration with flashy Moog synthesizer runs and again strong hints of early Eloy. The third and final part begins with beautiful spacey keyboard layers, then many shifting moods that contain very tasteful work on guitar and keyboards (including a sensational Moog solo).

I don't consider Nemrud their progrock as very original but these musicians generate a lot of progrock pleasure. And as a huge fan of early Eloy I am very pleased that Nemrud has incorporated this German progrock legend in their melodic sound. Finally I hope Nemrud will inspire more musicans in Turkey to make progressive rock, their debut was a good start and embraced by many progheads.

My rating: 3,5 star.

In the case of Nemrud's self-titled third album, the Turkish space rock unit seems to have decided that their musical mission is to pick up the distinctive style of Eloy and carry it forwards into a new era, with the end result being an album which, if you slipped it into the Eloy discography, would probably be acclaimed as the best thing they've done since the 1970s. Mert Göçay's performance, in particular, with his distinctive guitar tone and his vocal style, puts me in mind of nothing less than the Eloy of the Ocean/Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes sort of era.

Nonetheless, it would be very wrong to write this album off as a mere exercise in cloning the Eloy sound; more modern electronics and synthesisers are integrated with a greater smoothness than I think Eloy themselves managed, and as with the preceding Ritual the extensive instrumental breaks have a character of their own. Whilst I wouldn't call it an all-time classic, I certainly think it's the best Nemrud release I've heard so far, and certainly deserves to get them attention from anyone who enjoys the particular brand of space rock that Eloy pioneered and which few others have taken forwards (Anyone's Daughter perhaps being the only example that comes to mind).

The album opens with the 11ish minute "Gods of the Mountain". This gives Keyboard, Bass and Drum chance to warm up at the begining but they really gets his chance to shine when the guitar and keyboard battle comes in, probably one of the best examples of this technique like Eloy did in the past. Mert Göçay is incredible here as the band switches from the frantic battle and subtley starts to mellow out. Göçay introduces some excellent emotional guitar with a sort of phaser effect, which he used previous albums. This beautifully progresses into vocals begins. This gently lulls the song to its close with tremendous guitar work often creeping above incredible harmonies. The catchy chorus hook will settle in your brain after a few listens. Definitely a keeper in the Nemrud greatest hits package.

'Lion of Commagene' starts a steady rhythm and some glorious guitar and keyboard flourishes. Tempo changes and locks into a twisted meter and some incredible lead guitar trade offs. Then it settles into a haunting clean guitar motif and reverberated vocals on Church organ. Soft Hammond soundscapes encapsulating a Pink Floyd atmosphere. The mood swings from dramatic tension to a very heartfelt gentle emotion at the end. This is so catchy it always jumps out on the album. The melodies are as good as Nemrud gets.

'The Euphrates' is one of Nemrud' most beautiful pieces, crafted to perfection full of flowing structural change and the whole band playing to their best abilities. The music enters slowly through the soft touch of Organ fills and vocal work. This part gives an excellent work of acoustic guitar that serves as main rhythm section of the music which is led by keyboard solo plus drums. The music turns into quiet passage when effect guitar starts to enter the music but it then moves into more complex arrangements. Synthesizer solo also enriches the textures of this track.

The album ends with 'Forsaken Throne'. It is a great finisher, with the typical Nemrud instrumental passages, added with the usual great chorus. The music enters with solitude wind sound than guitar and keyboard making double Tangerine Dream style, very interesting flood till the music evolve another dimention. Second section is really beautiful dive to attractive synthesis of folk music and symphonic rock emulating classical music philosophies with very powerful emphasis. Göçay's lead vocal over an acoustic and organ-and-pedals is amazing, pure, powerful, haunting and the driving conclusion with a gorgeous guitar solo is divine. Even in the things seem to get a bit repetitive, the music still has enough momentum to hold your attention. Heavy and solid bass lines combined wonderfully with machine-gun drum work and guitar riffs. The music flows smoothly. Structurally, this epic comprises various forms of music with a balanced combination between high and low points. In some segments there are atmospheric nuance combined with dynamic combination. Nemrud showed off again a new definition of their sound. A good thing about this album what is missing from most others is that it was a mixture of proggresive rock songs and standard structured songs. This managed to attract more people into liking their sound.

Overall, 'Nemrud' is a very good album indeed, but not faultless. It´s masterpiece quality but it gets too nice and poppy at times for my taste and therefore 4,5 stars round up to 5. It´s highly recommendable though.

Their discography consists of 3 studio albums so far, all of them really good and interesting ones. First came 'Journey of the Shaman' in 2010, 3 years later they released 'Ritual', and a few months ago their latest album named as 'Nemrud'. All 3 albums, share some common characteristics, such as the long hypnotizing compositions, (including big instrumental passages in each one of them), and the few number of songs included in each of their albums . 'Journey of the Shaman' was including just 3 songs, which were actually the 3 parts of one big song, with the shortest one being 12 minutes long. 'Ritual' was including 4 songs, with two of them being over 10 minutes long. As you can understand, 'Nemrud' couldn't be very different. It includes 4 tracks, all of them over 11 minutes long, but there is a special (or limited) edition as well, which is including 2 of the album's songs in "Radio edit" versions. This is something really good and helpful, especially for people who are involved with radio stations. (Like myself for example). These 2 songs are' God of the Mountain' and the really beautiful 'Forsaken Throne'.

Although the general style is more or less the same like in their previous albums, I dare say that this album sounds more "mature" more "sophisticated" and it seems that the band members improved their technique and gained more confidence in comparison with the previous works. The only "weak" spot I found is the vocals, but it is something you are getting used to, and stops bothering you after a couple of listens.

I am not going to write anything about each song separately, because when I am playing the album I listened to it as a whole, but I should mention that the closing song 'Forsaken Throne' is my favorite one. (In both versions). (Also Euphrates is a fantastic tune).

The important thing is that, with each listening the album "grows" in you. You start noticing more and more details and musical turns that you haven't noticed before, and that is surely something we should congratulate the band for, because it means that these guys payed a lot of attention in the details, and did a really good job. I believe that this is an album worth to become more famous and more people should listen to it. Nemrud is a good band which shows significant improvement with every new release. My rating would be: 3.5 out of 5.0 stars

The first thing that caught my attention right away, besides Gocay's refined guitar and vocal execution; were the lyrics written for this album. Astonishing and breathtaking. Unpretentious, clean, emotive, meaningful inline with the story. Obviously to me, as you have noticed; the album emanates such mysticism and power unrevealed by the band at this point, turning this experience so new, so unique, that claims for unspoken recognition.

"Gods Of The Mountain" This track is terrific. It has an excellent music flow, great composition with a very tight structural integrity whereby the blend of melodies are composed in such a way that can lift up your emotion. The changing tempo is controlled in a manageable way, there is no sudden change as the transitions between musical segments are crafted smoothly by the band. When the interlude starts with a thunder and guitar start work, that's when the ultimate enjoyment of this track come to your mind. What a wonderful lead guitar!

"Lion Of Commagene" A very dark song with ambient noises and a clean and disturtion guitars are strumming. Gocay's voice is at its best here, and new member Candas plays tiny bass solos too. As this atmosphere reaches its zenith, a churchlike organ meets with lovely dramatic vocal.

"The Euphrates" Really it's just less progressive and more strait forward alternative rock.Kicks off the B side of the album with a synth multi-layered interlude that soon gives way to an exhibition of maximum bombast - effective melodic lines, complex rhythm patterns, and ballsy solos on guitar and keyboard.

"Forsaken Throne" Epic masterpiece. Trademark Nemrud, slowly feeding you genius in the form of music. The is the best and the most progressive one of the album along with the opening track. Gocay sings very well in mellow parts, more catchy and atmospheric. The track has very well synchronized fast parts, really bringing emotion and addiction.

In recent times, there have been quite a few years between Nemrud releases, and I would say that in this case the approach of the band taking their time to craft and perfect an album in this manner really pays off. For anyone interested in Turkish Progressive Rock, "Nemrud" is an essential release. Do not miss out on it.

The vocals are iffy, but the music far more than makes up for it.

The water sounds at the beginning of "The Euphrates" is also very pleasing and reminds me of a Tarkovsky movie, so I'll give that point to the record as well.

Overall, it's a pleasing blend of Camel's more instrumental pieces, even a little "Snowgoose"-esque, with a heavy backing to drive it forward without making it muddy or sterilized, like I find some prog-metal releases to be. Rich without being overly bombastic. I'd call it one of the best releases of modern progressive, drawing it back to its roots without being plain nostalgia.