TUTANKHAMON

I really recommend this album to those who search for that feeling of really authentic prog rock which can only (or mostly) be found in the 70's. This is the debut album by this spanish band and their most symphonic-rock one, with emphasis on "rock". After Tutankhamon they would loose singer Angel Riba and their music became instrumental and more fusion oriented (still great btw).

Rock came late in Spain due to the dictatorship of general Franco, and therefore this album although dating from '75 sounds in many ways as earlier records from the UK (american rock was not much influential in Spain at that time). As with many 70's records what is lovely here is the sense of authenticity. It was still too early to talk about influences, genres, clones and things like that, as we excessively do today. The guys simply did what felt right to them at the time, and there and then this happened to be simply wonderful music.

The core of Iceberg were keyboardist Josep "Kitflus" Mas and guitarist Max Sunye, both coming from a jazz environment, but the times were prone for symphonic rock and they embraced the genre eagerly, resulting in a delighful album which blens symphonic, jazz- fusion, still a few atmospheric psychedelic traces and pure 70's rock. This is not symphonic similar to the big ones Genesis, Yes, ELP, Floyd etc.This is authentically personal music, not trying to copy anybody. No long suites, no excessive focus on virtuosity, no bombastic feeling, just simply great music.

It's a concept album about the famous pharaoh although it does not tell a specific storyline but just assorted themes around his figure. It's sung half in spanish half in english and unfortunately the voice is not the strong point, but the composition and instrumental work more than compensate for it.

The starter "Tebas" is a great short instrumental overture, reminds me somehow of the wonderful debut album of Ted Rundgren's Utopia. "Prologo" has a delightful 5/4 jazzy time signature and much wah-wah guitar, very 70's. "Sacerdotes de Amon" starts with a hard guitar riff but soon shifts to more atmospheric moods. "Amarna" is an instrumental delight of that sort you think that it could only be made in the 70's. "Lying on the sand" is a great slow-mid tempo song again mixing rock with jazzy elements. "Amenofis IV" is instrumental, again a beautiful sample of what the unadelturated mood of the times could produce. "Himno al Sol" has a great 7/4 ? 3/4 rhythm. "La muerte" contains a drum solo as was the fashion in those times, although not too long and not by any means the best in the song, the short fragments where all the instruments play are awesome. "Close to God" is a more pop song, very melodic with great Rhodes piano and wah-wah guitar. If only all pop songs were like this. "Too young to be a pharaoh" is hard-rock-prog at its best, and the reprise of the opening "Tebas" puts the symphonic cherry on the cake.

Again, this is not Genesis, Yes, ELP or PFM. This is more jazz-rock-oriented prog, the voice is not great and the production is improvable by today's standards, but this is really wonderful authentic music very worth knowing about for a prog fan.