Mogador's
third album, “Absinthe Tales Of Romantic Visions”, was
self-released in 2012 with a renewed line up featuring Richard George
Allen (drums, percussion, vocals), Luca Briccola (guitars, keyboards,
bass, flute, backing vocals) and Marco Terzaghi (vocals) plus some
guests. It's a kind of concept album dedicated to some Romantic
artists, painters and poets, who in some way drew their inspiration
from absinthe, an anise-flavoured spirit with a natural green colour.
In my opinion, the result is pretty good! The band confirm here all
the good promises of their first two albums and if you like bands
such as Genesis, Gentle Giant or Yes I'm sure you'll find this work
very interesting.
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| Mogador 2013 |
The
opener “Whispers To The Moon” is a beautiful instrumental piece
that was inspired by Two Men Contemplating The Moon, a 1819
painting by German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich. It begins
softly, with a delicate piano pattern and the atmosphere is dreamy.
It fades into “Dreamland”, a piece in the same mood where the
band interpret a poem by Christina Rossetti... “Where sunless
rivers weep their waves into the deep / She sleeps a charmed sleep:
awake her not / Led by a single star, she came from very far / To
seek where shadows are her pleasant lot...”.
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| C.S. Friedrich, Two Men Contemplating The Moon, 1819 |
The
following “She Sat And Sang” is taken from another poem by
Christina Rossetti and features two special guests: singer-songwriter
Agnes Milewski (female vocals) and Filippo Pedretti (violin). It's a
beautiful acoustic ballad that could recall bands such the Pentangle
or Renaissance... “I wept for memory / She sang for hope that is so
fair / My tears were swallowed by the sea / Her songs died in the
wind...”.
“We
Never Said Farewell” is a short, “gentle” track featuring
lyrics taken from a poem by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge... “Two
islands that the roaring sea divide / Are not more far apart...”.
The following piece “Where Were Ye All?” recalls Yes and features
lyrics taken from a poem by Emily Bronte drenched in dark
nostalgia... “O come with me thus ran the song / The moon is bright
in Autumn's sky / And thou hast toiled and laboured long / With
aching head and weary eye...”.
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| C.J. Vernet: The Shipwreck, 1772 |
“Hardships”
is my favourite track on this album. It was inspired by a 1772
painting by Claude Joseph Vernet called The Shipwreck. In my
opinion here the band managed to capture the spirit of the evocative,
powerful images in music and words in an excellent way – by the
way, this track features original lyrics written by Richard Allen –
and I'm sure that lovers of Yes and Gentle Giant will appreciate
it... “Pray for the men who dared to dream / Shed no tears, the sea
washed them clean / Say to those men, that you shared their dream /
They paid so dear, right or wrong as it seems...”.
“Incantation
Of The Muse” is short instrumental track for that leads to “The
Sick Rose”, another nice short track featuring lyrics taken from a
poem by William Blake and interpreted by the guest vocalist Jon
Davison... “O Rose thou art sick / The invisible worm / That flies
in the night / In the howling storm / Has found out thy bed / Of
crimson joy / And his dark secret love / Does thy life destroy...”.
The
introspective “Alone” is taken from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe and
features the guest Gabriele Bernasconi on vocals. Another Italian
prog band, Goad, took inspiration from the same poem and it could be
interesting compare the two different versions. Well, Mogador's
version is in some way more solemn and brighter but I like both
versions and, of course, the poetry that inspired them.
The
dark, tense “Song Of Saul Before His Last Battle” is taken from a
poem by Lord Byron. It's a beautiful piece full of obscure energy...
“Farewell to others, but never we part / Heir to my royalty, son of
my heart! / Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway / Or kingly the
death, which awaits us to-day!”. Then comes the short, melancholic
“Le Poison”, taken from a poem by Charles Baudelaire featuring recitative French vocals provided by the
guest Curzio Galante.
The
long, complex “Prometheus” is another excellent piece featuring
lyrics taken from an epic poem by Lord Byron. The poem is about
Prometheus, a famous mythological character of the Ancient Greek, the
titan who brought fire to men and was condemned by Zeus to be
eternally chained to a rock having his liver eaten daily by an eagle.
For Romantic artists, such as Byron, Prometheus represented the rebel
who resisted all forms of institutional tyranny and here the band
give life to the myth in a convincing way with an amazing suite rich
in ideas and full of fiery energy... “Titan! To thee the strife was
given / Between the suffering and the will / Which torture where they
cannot kill...”. A short bonus track, “Absinthe Rag”, a joyful
instrumental piece for piano solo, concludes an album that in my opinion is really
worth listening to.
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