“Lique Mekwas” (2016)

Their new album tells a story of a young man who was appointed to serve the Crown Prince of Abyssinia as a guard-impersonator, and after the years of hard trials and adventures got to know that he had always been a true king of his country; a story of historical, sociopolitical and at the same time existential background.

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Following the concept of Lique Mekwas, Vespero removed the traditional Russian musical elements (features of Fitful Slumber…) and recruited tribal percussion and saxophone, which, combined with the beautiful guitar approach “à la Santana” in many parts, give a strong latin complexion in the project, from which the typical extreme psychedelic experimentation and rich variations in rhythm are not absent.

This time the band is less focused on compositions, but this doesn’t mean that the beautiful musical themes interwoven in a unique way are lacking. The result is a completely autonomous sound, a kind of jamming not spent in chatty improvisations nor curbed by the strict rules of composition, but a sound that lives and breathes as an independent entity, recounting the story of the album. The ambition of the band to play fusion is clear and they succeed in doing so in a way that sometimes is reminiscent of the “nuclear” sessions of Santana in the early 70s (The Course Of Abagaz), or the “expensive” playing of Jean-Luc Ponty (Oromoo’s Flashing Eyes ), while in some parts the sound output reaches the stardom of Mars Volta in Amputechture, while expressing what Mars Volta tried to do at that time but failed to accomplish as Vespero do today. However, one can easily trace countless coenobitic elements (early Floyd and especially Gong) which are a basic ingredient of any Vespero album.

Among the album tracks it is difficult to single out one in particular, however The Emperor’s Second Self, a seminar of cosmic music structure and deconstruction, holds a slight edge. Certainly the album structure helps a lot to highlight the playing of the guitarist Alexander Kuzovlef, who besides Santana (a perfect example of this is the “authority” that marks the two notes in the 20th second of Abyssinian Ground), embellishes the tracks with other elements as well, both technically and acoustically (e.g. in the introduction of Ras Dashien, the influences by Steve Hackett are more than obvious).

After this year’s release of Lique Mekwas, what is certain and at the same time causes joy, respect and awe is the fact that Vespero are in the middle of a creative orgasm, proving that not only they deserve to be at the top of space-rock, but also that they surpass the limits of the genre, thus willingly entering in more jazzy musical fields. It is quite possible that they are preparing a successor while this review is written. For the time being, we are dealing with a great album that looks like the perfect soundtrack for this summer.

9 / 10

‘Abyssinian Ground’ sigue de cerca a la aureola de majestuosa distinción de la pieza precedente, y también en parte, al dinamismo reflexivo y sereno que marcó a la primera sección de ‘Ras Dashen’, dando como resultado una maravillosa expansión de la vitalidad sofisticada para la cual el esquema sonoro de VESPERO siempre ha sido terreno fértil. Estableciendo nexos claros con la tradición del jazz-fusion estadounidense y con el modelo del PIERRE MOERLEN’S GONG, el colectivo ruso nos regala un hermoso viaje jazz-progresivo en el cual lo psicodélico pasa a ser un factor secundario. ‘Isidore’s Prophet’ se dedica a centrarse en lo introspectivo aunque no por ello resulta una pieza lánguida y cándida: por el contrario, el magnífico y consistente groove instaurado por el trío rítmico y la permanente presencia protagónica de la guitarra nos remiten a una voracidad propia del rock, aunque en este caso ella viene filtrada a través de la maraña de sofisticación cósmica exigida por la pieza desde sus entrañas esenciales. De todas maneras, más tarde o más temprano, el ensamble pasa a gestar un viraje hacia consonancias más filudas. Uno que hubiera estado orgulloso de haber gestado esta pieza e incluirla en su catálogo compositivo es STEVE HILLAGE, y lo mismo vale para ED WYNNE, el eterno jefe de OZRIC TENTACLES. ‘Follow The Fitawrari’ está más metido en la musculatura del estándar progresivo psicodélico, perpetuando así el legado de esos primeros años densamente ácidos de los OZRIC TENTACLES, y también por ello, a otras bandas jóvenes veteranas como QUANTUM FANTAY e HIDRIA SPACEFOLK. Dando un viraje inesperadamente perturbador al álbum en sus instancias finales, la pieza que ocupa los últimos 11 ½ minutos del mismo y que se titula ‘The Emperor’s Sescond Self’ instala un clima oscurantista y nebuloso, al modo de un paseo por los límites entre el Limbo y el Purgatorio. Tras comenzar con un groove exótico en clave sosegada, el esquema rítmico termina transitando sobre un terreno sobre el cual se siente presto a ser deconstruido en cualquier momento. Por su parte, los ornamentos de sintetizador y guitarra se vuelven crecientemente densos, haciendo que la inquietud espectral antes latente se haga patente hasta el punto de llenar todos los espacios posibles hasta la saciedad. Tenemos aquí el resurgir de algunos modelos del krautrock (GILA, GURU GUR, AGITATION FREE), ni más ni menos. Un broche sorprendente, y sobre todo, soberbio para un repertorio impresionante.

La tendenza a rendere i brani delle lunghe jam che tendono a svariare partendo da uno spunto, da un’idea, supera qui ogni altra tentazione ed inclinazione, andando a collidere (seppur piacevolmente) contro una sensazione netta di replica; 75 minuti non sono davvero pochi e tranne qualche rara occasione i Vespero avrebbero potuto osare di più.

Come detto, Ozric Tentacles in primis e Hawkwind le stelle polari che guidano il cammino di Lique Mekwas, aperto dalla lunga e trascinante The Course 0f Abagaz. Sedici minuti nei quali protagonista assoluto è il ritmo incessante prodotto dalla coppia Alexander Timakov (percussioni) e Ivan Fedotov (batteria); chitarra (Alexander Kuzovlev) e sax tenore partono alternativamente per una tangente immaginaria, sostenuti da una ritmica che diviene quasi in odore…Santana. Note di basso (Arkady Fedotov ) e keyboards lanciano progressivamente una lunga fase più introspettiva, meno dinamica, sospesa tra psichedelia e trip-hop, prima del pirotecnico finale.

Inquadrato il bersaglio diventa facile procedere. Ras Dashen vede in primo piano il violino, accompagnato da una fitta tessitura ritmica e dagli svolazzi della chitarra, muoversi in un contesto sonoro oscuro ed opprimente.

Oromoo’s Flashing Eyes ancora nel segno di un ritmo quasi in loop; ogni strumento si ritaglia a turno il proprio spazio, tra questi un prepotente ingresso del sax ed il basso protagonista. La seconda fase, assolutamente psichedelica, vede tornare alla ribalta il violino.

Con Abyssinian Ground si fa sentire il vecchio wha-wha sulla chitarra di Kuzovlev ma lo schema compositivo rimane piuttosto bloccato. C’è un buon lavoro di basso e batteria, in grado di “riempire” molto e per il resto si va verso la consuete sarabanda con la chitarra stavolta sotto i riflettori.

Le tracce si susseguono, piacevoli ma sono oggettivamente strutturate in modo piuttosto uniforme. Isidore’s Prophet propone ad esempio un elaborato che si può riallacciare al brano introduttivo, c’è maggiore intensità ma il perimetro di confine resta inalterato.

Follow the Fitawrari è il brano con il piglio più convincente; ritmo e densità sin dall’apertura, sax in buona evidenza seguito dal violino e quindi la chitarra a svariare a lungo, imprevedibilmente.

L’ultima traccia, The Emperor’s Second Self, va a ricercare atmosfere sospese e notturne, quasi d’attesa.

L’ascolto termina qui e come sempre in questi casi non è semplice farne un consuntivo. I ritmi e la “anarchica” piacevolezza del sound dei Vespero non sono in discussione ma resta il fatto che si registra una pressoché totale mancanza di originalità.

2. “Ras Dashen” (9:31) opens slowly, establishing a nice laid back groove with bass and congas and other hand percussives, with some HACKETT-esque volume pedal controlled soloing over the top for the first two minutes. Violin gets the next turn as guitar and keys establish some spacey weave beneath. Then its tenor sax in the fourth minute. Pause in the middle of the fifth minute allows a recalibration and then return to original pace only this time with full drum kit, staccato bass play and muted guitar chords providing that foundational weave for first keyboard solo and then violin. Drums get to shine a bit in the final two minutes. Probably my favorite song on the album. (9/10)3. “Oromoo’s Flashing Eyes” (10:00) opening with a nice little moving groove within which spacey synth noises and violin get to weave their sounds. In the third minute the song stops and restarts with drums and rhythm section establishing a new somewhat polyrhythmic direction (syncopated drum beats) over which tenor sax takes a turn. By the time the screaming electric guitar takes over the lead in the fifth minute the whole-band rhythm has again congealed into an insistent and unified thrum. Violin and guitar take turns with soli as the foundational music massages and hypnotizes the listener. (9/10)

4. “Abyssinian Ground” (8:20) is perhaps the odd song on the album as the folk melodies and odd rhythms and unorthodox time signatures force one to wake up and take notice. Who said Russians don’t concern themselves with rhythm or time? Vespero are here proving them wrong. (9/10)

5. “Isidore’s Prophet” (10:23) long and steady but not enough change, development or nuance. (8/10)

6. “Follow The Fitawrari” (8:49) has nice development with sax, violin, synths and incredible bass play. There is an awesome spacey section in the sixth minute. The seventh minute puts some PERCY JONES-like bass play beneath the jazz guitar lead. (9/10)

7. “The Emperor’s Second Self” (11:39) has a very nice slow pace and development from the eerie, spacious opening to the end of the sixth minute. Up to that point all instruments seem to be floating around in their own daydreams. Then the instrumental threads congeal and weave into a cohesive expression. By the 8:00 mark the music is beginning to sound like a meditative/breathworks jam intended to take both listener and musician into altered states of consciousness. Beautiful and awesome! (9/10)

Overall, an awesome excursion into the spacey, rhythmically massaging world of Kosmisches Musik–done in a jazz fusion style!

“Lique Mekwas” ist – so kann man im Inneren des diesmal sehr bunt bedruckten Pappklappteils nachlesen, in dem die CD geliefert wird – der offizielle Titel des Doubles des Äthiopischen Königs (es gab wohl mindestens zwei davon), die denselben bei offiziellen Anlässen und bei Kampfhandlungen zu begleiten hatten und im Falle eines Falles Angreifer auf sich zu ziehen hatten. Das Album erzählt (wobei es keinerlei Texte gibt) die Geschichte eines dieser Doppelgänger, der nach langen Jahren herausfindet, dass er in Wirklichkeit der echte König ist. Das Label teilt zudem mit, dass “Lique Mekwas” der erste Teil der “Abyssinian Tales Dilogy” wäre. Es ist also noch ein Schwesteralbum zu erwarten.In musikalischer Hinsicht gibt es hier kaum Überraschungen. Einen reich instrumentierten, jazzig-schwungvollen Spacerock haben Vespero im Angebot, der sich wenig von dem unterscheidet, der auf den sechs Vorgängeralben zu finden ist. Oder, ein paar Unterschiede gibt es schon. Das krautige Element und Elektronisches sind eigentlich Ganz aus der Musik der Russen verschwunden und wurde offenbar zu Maat Lander ausgelagert. Auch Postrockiges spielt kaum noch eine Rolle. Durch das prägnante Saxophon ist die Musik zudem etwas jazzrockiger ausgefallen als auf den früheren Alben. Dazu trägt auch Borodins flottes Geige bei, oft im Duett mit Kuzovlev ausladenden E-Gitarreneskapaden. Mellotronartige Schübe und allerlei Synthesizerblubbern und -fiepen sorgen zudem für eine deutlich retroprogressive Atmosphäre.