POMPEII

When earthquake hit Yogya yesterday (27 May 2006), I suddenly remember "Pompeii" by Triumvirat. That's why I spin this CD again after having been vacuum not playing it for, I think more than 2 years, may be more. The fact is that this album is still enjoyable as the first time I listened to it at the first time, couple of months after its release. In this record the band has added vocal with Barry Palmer with his excellent vocal.

The opening track "The Erthquake 62 ad" (6:17) is very ELP at the beginning part. It moves nicely with pulsating keyboard by Jurgen Fritz and Barry Palmer's vocal. "Journey of A Fallen Angel" is a melancholic song performed in relatively slow tempo with melodic vocal line. "Viva Pompeii" is an excellent instrumental piece with rich textures especially resulting from combination of dynamic keyboard sounds and drumming. "The Time Of Your Life" (4:35) is my all-time favorite because I love Barry's vocal quality and nice melody resulted by this music. Piano and keyboards are used interchangeably here, accentuated with string section and dazzling drum work.

"Rich Man and The Carpenter" (5:54) offers a combination of classical-influence piano touch at the beginning with pop rock, accentuated with string section and dynamic drumming. The music moves away from what ELP had ever done before; so this is a song unique by Triumvirat with relatively minimum influence from other bands. The structure gives variety of styles and breaks and all make this track enjoyable. "Dance On The Volcano" (3:30) starts silent with keyboard sounds followed with marching drum work which moves in crescendo forming an excellent instrumental piece. Keyboard takes the role as melody. There is a very strong influence from ELP especially in the way keyboard is played as well as the rhythm section.

"Vesuvius 79 ad" (6:33) starts with drum solo followed with relatively complex music which gives drummer to perform its best combined with sound effects from keyboards. Vocal is suddenly entering the music with melodic vocal line. It's an excellent track with operatic singing style. The concluding track "Hymn" is a nice song in mellow style. This song was once a radio hit in my country.

Overall, it's an excellent addition to any prog music collection.

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW, Indonesia

Notes : Again, this review represents a series of write-ups I have prepared so far as condolence for brothers and sisters who were killed on earthquake at 5.9 on Richter Scale which hit Yogya and surroundings on Saturday, 27 May 2006, 5:30 in the morning.