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Ixion - Talisman
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Country of Origin:
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The Netherlands
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Format:
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CD
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Record Label:
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Ixion Music
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Catalogue #:
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IMCD0602
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Year of Release:
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2006
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Time:
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68:04
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Info:
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Ixion
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Samples:
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Click here
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Tracklist: The Crimson Puppeteer
(8:30), Legend (2:45), Dawn (5:08), The Raven and the Stone (7:32),
Redemption (0:43), The Abyss (10:42), Non Nobis (8:23), Sea Of Cortez
(10:06), Prelude (2:04), Catherine (6:24), Talisman Revisited (5:39)
So sue me: I’m a
sucker for concept albums. (Could that fact have something to do with
the first progressive-metal album I ever bought – Rush’s Hemispheres?
Surely not!) I therefore come to an album like Talisman
prejudiced in favour of the enterprise, very much wanting to like it –
it’s only fair for me to reveal that bias at the outset. Talisman
– the project of Jankees Braam, the album’s
bassist/keyboardist/composer/lyricist – is the extended (over more than
an hour) story of an ancient evil talisman that influences the actions
of various historical figures over two centuries (though, we’re told in
the lavishly illustrated and annotated booklet, “the talisman is very
old, but we don’t pick up its trail until the start of ‘modern
history,’” when it comes into the hands of Judas Iscariot) – figures
including King Arthur, Cortez, and Catherine the Great. The talisman
ends up in the hands of a young woman in 2006 in the final song, which
begins with the flattest lyrics of the album (it might have been that
Braam was less interested in contemporary than in historical figures):
“I am holding a piece of jewellery / I picked up in a shop full of
relics from the past. . . .” So this is an ambitious album, to be sure,
a bold new reinterpretation of history set to music. What’s not to
like?
Well, of course,
the story and lyrics are only part of the album, and I’ll say that, for
the most part, the lyrics are very good and tell the story well – not
too obviously (excepting of course in the lines that I just quoted) but
interestingly. But what of the songs themselves and the music? I’ll
begin with simple facts, ones that will strike every listener on first
hearing the album: the songs are long and the music is slow. This is an
album that requires a great deal of attention and patience, and I think
my job here is to assess to what degree the rewards of the album repay
the attention and patience demanded of the listener.
I have to say that,
even if the CD booklet and promo letter didn’t make this fact clear,
I’m pretty sure I would have guessed that the compositions and creative
control all belonged to one person. I suspect that, if Ixion
were a traditional band rather than a project on which many guest
musicians were invited to perform parts (nine musicians and singers
besides Braam himself), the song’s tempos would have ended up more
varied, and a lot of cuts might have been made. While it’s true that
each song is interesting and superbly performed, I believe Braam is
asking too much of his listeners here. I mean, excepting the two brief
instrumentals (Redemption and Prelude), all the songs but
two exceed five minutes, and six of them are between six and eleven
minutes long. I’ve nothing against extended compositions, but Braam
gives us too little musical variety in these songs – Sea Of Cortez
and Catherine burst out into brief faster sections, but most of
the others cruise along at icebreaker speed, providing individually,
for sure, interesting melodies and instrumentation and, throughout,
first-rate singing and musicianship, but not really sustaining interest
in the narrative. It’s a neat story, but the music doesn’t serve it as
powerfully as it ought.
About the
musicianship. Braam has gathered around himself some excellent
musicians, among whom I’ll single out vocalist (one of three!) Maaike
Breijman and guitarist Gerton Leijdekker. Leijdekker’s repertoire of sounds is
impressive, and he plays a mean acoustic guitar, but what I best like
is the lovely Steve Hackett tone he uses for most of the solos
and fills on most of the songs here. It’s perfectly suited to the
music, as is every note Leijdekker plays; I can’t imagine better guitar
work for Braam’s purposes than Leijdekker supplies.
The production,
too, also by Braam, is impeccable. Despite Braam’s army of musicians,
the sound is at all times deep, clear, and uncluttered, every
instrument and vocal standing out but none drowning the others. That
includes Braam’s bass guitar (he began his musical career as the
bassist for symphonic rock band Sangamo, a job he held for twelve
years), which is both an essential part of many songs and tastefully
understated; perhaps because he’s the composer as well as the bassist,
Braam knows that all the instruments must serve each song, so he never
shows off, which is not to say that his bass lines aren’t inventive and
impressive.
But as for the
whole? I have to confess to being a bit disappointed. I restate my
point that, as interesting as the narrative is, the music doesn’t serve
it as well as it easily might have. A collaborator might have trimmed
the songs to eliminate the excess, allowing the music to support the
words and then just stop – and move on to the next song. Braam has so
much to say here, both musically and lyrically, but I think he needed
to sacrifice some of the former to the latter.
A fine album, ambitious
and enjoyable, then – but too darned long and too darned slow, or at
least so I think. With the reservations I’ve expressed here, though, I
can happily recommend the CD to fans of concept albums, of symphonic
rock, and even of metal opera (such as the recent Aina and Avantasia
projects). But when you press “Play,” be prepared to be patient.
Conclusion: 7.5
out of 10
GERALD WANDIO
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