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"Too long and smoothed out by a very uniform production, “Panterrania” struggles to captivate."
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3/5
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Oliver Rüsing has been running the Karibow project for almost 30 years, turning it into something of a one-man band. From composition to arrangements, this multi-instrumentalist holds all the desks, but calls on guests to complete his line-up. For “Panterrania”, he brought two big fish into his net, Ian Crichton and Andy Tillison (The Tangent). The presence of the former comes as something of a half-surprise, as Rüsing's music has in the past (notably on “From Here to the Impossible”) shown similarities with that of Canadian band Saga. On vocals, Harvest's Monique Van Der Kolk, already present on several Karibow albums, brings a welcome variety.
In keeping with Karibow's well-established habit, “Panterrania” is a copious opus (107 minutes!) divided into two albums, the second of which is a long suite of 10 tracks. The music remains rooted in a progressive AOR style that strives for variety, but struggles to achieve it. This is because the production, although particularly clean, standardizes the subject matter, with keyboard chords constantly playing in the background over very conventional sounds, blurring the reliefs and putting all the tracks in the same mold.
At over an hour and a half, the road ahead seems long, despite the efforts of Crichton, who was very much in evidence on the first disc, and despite the presence of exotic instruments (the yangqin at the opening of 'Tangram', the kalimba on 'Albedo') which ultimately prove to be very anecdotal. Oliver Rüsing's vocals are also fairly uniform, mostly adopting pop tones ('Simply Yourself' has a more buoyant chorus), although fortunately the alliance with Monique Van Der Kolk brings a little variety. Andy Tillison's presence appears to be of secondary importance, and the keyboards don't shine through.
Despite occasional efforts to avoid uniformity (a touch of jazz on 'A Little While', a touch of reggae in 'Cupid Calling'), and an effort at variety in a few compositions ('Lords of the Big Shame' or 'Ordinary Gods'), the listening experience is distracted but not unpleasant. An album that would have benefited from being shortened, and which illustrates the limits of a solo project.
- Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. PanTerrania
02. Simplify Yourself
03. Ordinary Gods
04. Tangram
05. Genes from Another World
06. Behind My Eyes
07. In the Fragments
08. Heaven
09. Albedo
10. One Touch (Part I)
11. Blossom Black (Part II)
12. The Leak (Part III)
13. Cinderella (Part IV)
14. Time (Part V)
15. Illusian (Part VI)
16. A Little While (Part VII)
17. Cupid Calling (Part VIII)
18. Lords of the Big Shame (Part IX)
19. Nothing Shall Remain (Part X)
LINEUP:
Oliver Rüsing: Chant / Guitares / Basse / Claviers / Batterie
Charlie Bramald: Chant / Invité
Ian Crichton: Guitares / Invité
Monique Van Der Kolk : Chant / Invité
Nic Koray: Chant / Guitares / Invité
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STAFF:
3/5 (1 view(s))
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