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: :
Hal & Ring -
Alchemy : : |
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Band/artist: Hal & Ring
Title: Alchemy
Released: 2006
Label: Musea / Poseidon |
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Track
listing:
1. Sir Bordenhausen
2. Triplet Colors II
3. The Flower Ladies
4. Open Before Knock
5. Altered States II
6. The Star of Sorrow
7. In Memory of Charnades the Pan |
: : The Players : :
Haruhiko Tsuda
(guitar), Yoshiyuki Sakurai (bass), Naoya Takahashi (drums), Kayo
Matsumoto (keyboards), Takashi Kokubo (synth) |
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: : Alchemy : :
Hal & Ring are a Japanese band, with seemingly quite an interesting
history. Seemingly, as their website is in Japanese there's not much
info too get from that one, and the information on the CD cover is
sparse. But from what can be picked of information from available
sources, Hal & Ring consists of the main musicians from one band named
Hal and another band named Ring, that both were active in the mid to
late seventies. And due to circumstance, personal chemistry and/or other
issues, these musicians have decided to join the two bands.
It is indicated on the CD sleeve that at least some tracks on this CD
were made by the former bands in the 70s; it is not clearly stated if
this is the fact for all the tracks though. But as most songs on this
release have a strong 70's vibe to them, that could indeed be the case.
As for musical styles go, this band is one of those bands that takes the
expression "all over the place" to the extremes.
Opening track "Sir Bordenhausen" sounds more or less like a mix between
Atomic Rooster and Deep Purple; that develops into a more Purple like
song with extra oomph towards the end.
"Triplet Colors II" starts off with a Kitaro-like sound, then develops
into an Ozric Tentacles/Hawkwind sounding space rock ambient affair
before venturing slightly into krautrock/psychedelia towards the end.
"The Flower Ladies" starts off with a funky 80's pop sound to it, soon
overlaid with fusiony piano playing and then adding psychedelic touches
to the song as it progresses further.
"Open Before Knock" is a hard blues rocker with lots of solo guitars and
floating synthwork; with a slight Deep Purple touch to it.
"Altered States II" starts off as a psychedelic sounding ambient spacey
affair, where the soundscape slowly grow in intensity and trippiness.
What sounds like whales talking is a dominant sound throughout this
track.
"The Star of Sorrow" is
a dark, sad and brooding synth heavy melody that slowly gets more oomph
along the way, with space and psychedelia touches to the soundscapes.
"In Memory of Charnades the Pan" starts off sounding like a Deep Purple
venture into krautrock territory, and then after a 1 minute long wind
synthesizer break in the middle continues as a more ambient space
sounding piece with organ playing as the dominant feature; the organ in
question sounding eerily similar to a church organ.
In my opinion, pretty much all over the place in other words. And with
what appears to be excellent musicianship as well.
As for the individual songs on this release, I didn't get a strong feel
for them. More interesting than good is my main impression here; apart
from the synth-heavy track "The Star of Sorrow" which in my opinion is
the standout track here.
Still, fans of space tinged and/or psychedelic tinged instrumental music
should be able to find a few goodies on this release; in my opinion that
would be the main target group for this release. People who have a
tendency to like music a bit odd and weird in general should also be
able to get some good enjoyment out of this release.
For my sake though, this ends up as a release with truly interesting
retro-sounding music without the ability to really captivate me.
Rating: 6 (out of 10)
Reviewer: Olav Björnsen
: : Visit the Artist’s
Website :
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: : Discography : :
Alchemy (2006) |
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