CANTAFABULE

With a lyrically cohesive concept based on Romanian folklore, PHOENIX's landmark release is unfortunately not as consistent musically. When it works, it rivals the best folk, psychedelic, and heavy prog acts of the 1970s, but when it doesn't, it's simply another display of testosterone fueled beat rock, which happens to be sung in Romanian.

Luckily, the best moments are the most progressive and/or folky, with the longest being especially sound. On "Invocatie" and "Canticlu", the platter tilts dramatically and emphatically rather than pelvically. While these tracks succeed far more in defining than borrowing a style, I do hear some OMEGA and ELOY, the latter especially in the keyboards, and in the excellent "Delfinul, Dulci Dulful" some reference to BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST's "After the Day" are clear.

On the more folk oriented pieces like "Norocul" and "Stima Casei", the German band OUGENWEIDE comes to mind, whereas some of the more driving pieces recall Basque acts like LISKER and MAGDALENA. Unfortunately, several weaker standard hard rock tracks hinder the flow, particularly "Pasarea Rock n Roll", while "Zoomahia" vies for the spacey Krautrock mantle and winds up 6 feet under. Just too much heavy riffing here, some of it infesting even the better tracks like a mantra abandoned.

While "Cantofabule" possesses qualities that would appeal to an expansive spectrum of prog listeners, I'm not sure how many will be wholly enamoured with it. Still, it's a disk of historic value that is worth your attention, and you might well find some favourites arising from its scorched grooves.