LEGEND

Parzival's roots can be found in the Bremen-based 60's group The Chamberlains, where singer/guitarist Lothar Siems and drummer Thomas Olivier played together.By 1967 they had teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Walter Quintus and formed a trio that went to an extended tour through France.After graduating in 1969 from the Beazzic Conservatory, they surfaced under the Parzival name and even went on to the Decca Studios in London to record a single.The trio was later picked up by renowed producer Conny Plank and recorded the debut ''Legend'' at the fall of summer 71' at the Star Music Studios in Hamburg.A few guests took part during the sessions, namely Joachim Reichhold on cello, Matthias Mueller-Menckens on piano/flute and Hans Jaspers on viola, while the album was released on Telefunken.

First side comes as a hybrid of Folk, Classical Music and Psychedelic Pop with notable influences from Medieval Music and a good bunch of psychedelic orientations.Entirely sung in English, these five tracks range from symphonic textures to sweet interplays between traditional instruments and some serious psychedelic solos on guitar and flute with Mueller-Menckens becoming an unexpected centerpoint with his impressive and flexible flute work, ranging from charming and melodic lines to killer solos.With a steady rhythm section and a good string section the music ranges from orchestral soundscapes to bucolic segments, featuring extended instrumental work and plenty of striking moments.Second side sounds like being performed by a whole different band.Gone are the happy melodies and harmonic lines, as ''Empty land'' is much closer to Kraut Folk and the Teutonic principles with depressive strings and hypnotic organs over Siems mournful singing and a grandiose, orchestral outro.''Groove inside'', clocking at 16 minutes, sounds like an overstretched Kraut Folk jam with scratching violins, loose flute and acoustic guitars and some tambourine in the background, being closer to Hippie Folk and creating imaginery, psychedelic atmospheres, pretty weird is that the trio abandoned any possibility for some lyrical content and offered a very long Folk manifest with pronounced traditional sounds.

CD reissue come with a few bonus pieces either coming from the band's singles or from early, unreleased sessions.''Legend'' is a nice little work of Prog Folk/Rock with a different sound in each of the original sides, first one sounds closer to Symphonic Folk, second is outlandish, rather improvised Kraut Folk with intense, psychedelic experiments.Warmly recommended.