LEGEND

One of the keenest Folk Prog group to come from Germany, Parzival should appeal to most progheads especially those looking into medieval music as a main influence. In this regard, they are to be compared to countrymen Ougenweide (but Parzival sings in English), Malicorne for one side and The Pentangle, Spirogyra or The Trees for the second. Organized around a guitar-bass-drums trio (the bassist being multi- instrumentalist from KB to violin) with an added instruments ranging from the cello, flute to the oboe. Sounds tasty does it not? Ya Betcha!-)

Oddly enough the Cd starts with a bonus track, a non-album single, but a masterstroke that puts you right away in superb joyous mood and the album is in the same mould. Cellos and flute gives a rather medieval feeling to the music, but never really completely indulging in it like Gryphon would, they sound more like ELO's first superb album also. The 8 Years Later almost instrumental is an incredibly beautiful track where they are soaring away like eagles from us poor mortals. Senseless and a few other tracks have slightly acidic-sounding vocals reminding Sopirogyra's Martyn Cockerham or Comus's Wooton, but without having that eerie feel to it. Empty Land is based on Bach's Matthew's Passion, but the previous track always had another classical influence I could never place.

Their largely acoustic sound is incredibly contagious and highly joyous (I know I already said this at the start of the review but this must be stressed again here. Their lenghty Groove Inside (you guessed it, based on an improvisation) is never less than interesting but reaches the enthralling stages too especially when they get to a raga section much like the Third Ear Band (and even reminding me of Jan Dukes De Grey's Sun Symphonia), until it ends on a rather pointless and not-so-nice wink to The Beatles's When I'm 64. But only on this lenghty track does the mood become .. moody ;-)

Two more short bonus tracks (on top of the opening one) are ending the album in a rougher manner than necessary, both being demos dating from 69 and largely forgettable, this album is one of the real pearls from Germany's folk scene and the fact that it was produced by Conny Plank, certainly is no coincidence.