Nemrud: Unbelievable Progressive Rock Album from Turkey

Progressive Rock! It is my passion. Although I write some articles about world music, I am a progressive rock fan. Pink Floyd, Eloy, King Crimson, Yes, and Jethro Tull are some my favorites. But, Pink Floyd is different for me. They are the best. Anyway, why I write article about progressive rock in this music blog? Progressive Rock groups are generally from England, the United States and some European countries such as Germany, Italy. Nemrud comes from Turkey and their musicality is very high. It is a good reason to talk about Nemrud.  We are not accustomed to hear a professional progressive rock group from Turkey. Although there are so many neo progressive groups such as Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Riverside, but I could not catch 70’s progressive taste. It doesn’t make them bad groups and I like them. Anyway, today we will know more about a Turkish Progressive Rock group Nemrud.

To be supported by Frank Bornemann who is founder of one of the most famous progressive band Eloy makes Nemrud’s music in a perfect sound and make Nemrud known in Europe. Frank Bornemann followed up album stages respectively, and introduce to the band to European and world music market. Nemrud’s music is mostly inspired by Eloy. Furthermore, Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson and Camel’s music affect their music as well. We also can hear some Jazz and Avant-garde elements.


They have only one album named in The Journey of the Shaman. This is also the first concept progressive album in Turkey. The album’s concept is inspired by Turkish mythology. It is an epic story about Mitos who is a Shaman lives in Middle Asia. Mitos got a message from the other world and have a physical and spiritual journey at this. Old Turks’ religion was Shamanism before they believe Islam. Turkish mythology contains Shamanic items and elements.


There are three songs in the album and those three songs represent three different worlds in Shamanism respectively. Earth people lives, underground where people go after die, and sky in spiritual meaning. A person cannot go to the sky without going underground. Album concept is Mitos’ journey from the earth to the sky. You can get more information about shamanism and its spiritualism after listen the album. The album’s motto is “You come from the sky, and you will go back to the sky”.

Let’s see those three songs and their sections.

Part 1 (15 min.50 sec.)In the World of Dreams
Beginning of Divine Inspiration
Revival
A Stone in the Ocean
Part 2 (12 min.)A Farewell to Sun
Fly to Underground Without the Past
Fight With The Evil Spirits
Part 3 (17 min. 20 sec.)A Journey to Inner self
Scourge of Nemrud
In All Stages of Immortality
Jump to Final Dimension Through the Seventh Sky


The album recorded by using analog methods. We can say it is Eloy oriented music with Eastern melodies and mythology. Sound is very close to Eloy’s Dawn album’s sound. The Journey of the Shaman album must be listened if you like Progressive Rock. If you do not like this kind of music, you should also listen to the album for impressive story and concept. Sound is perfect, concept is perfect, and story is perfect. It is a musical feast from Turkey. Buy the album to support them for their following project.

You could visit the band’s website and their MySpace page. You could listen to preview of the album and evaluate their musicality.

http://www.myspace.com/nemrudmusic

Bye for now!

Read more »

Rick Miller

About: Rick Miller

Rick Miller has been composing, producing, performing and recording since the early 1980s, gaining a great deal of production experience while working at Sound Design Studios in Toronto and later in his own studio in Lakefield, Ontario, all the while honing his skills as a singer and songwriter. Early this century, Miller turned his attention to progressive rock, the music he grew up listening to, and released four prog CDs between 2004-2009. Falling Through Rainbows (2009) is his latest; this is the new Unicorn Digital edition. Rick lists his influences succinctly as The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Steve Hackett, and Gabriel-era Genesis, but its the first two that dominate, such that Falling Through Rainbows can easily be described as a cross between The Moodies and Floyd. Miller sings and plays guitar and keyboards (lots of Mellotron), assisted by other musicians on flute, cello, guitar, violin, and drums. This is old-school melancholy, and those David Gilmour-style guitar leads are just what is needed to shift The Moody Blues out of the late 1960s into the 1970s progressive rock era.

Contact: millerr@nexicom.net

Listen to internet radio with onlinewithandreaon Blog Talk Radio

 

Rick Miller – Official Website
http://rickmiller.bandcamp.com/
Rick Miller - MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/rickmiller1
Rick Miller - Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Miller/243367182533?ref=ts
Rick Miller – Sound Click
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=67685
Rick Miller – Online with Andrea Interview - Friday, July 20^th, 2012
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onlinewithandrea/2012/07/20/rick-miller-music
Video!
Rick Miller - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/millerrca
Buy Music!
Rick Miller - Bandcamp
http://rickmiller.bandcamp.com/
Rick Miller – Unicorn Digital
http://www.unicornrecords.com/open.html
Rick Miller - Gemm
http://www1.gemm.com/c/search.pl?&table=sellers&seller=GMV74130&view=BROWSE
Rick Miller – Last FM
http://www.last.fm/music/Rick+Miller

More About: Rick Miller

Canadian multi-instrumentalist Rick Miller has always been one for mellow music. Beginning his work in the eighties with the new age record "Starsong", Rick has gone on to make a series of albums, often drawing comparisons to the work of Pink Floyd, and for good reason. "Dark Dreams" is another warming addition to this saga, capitalizing on his soulful guitar style and artistic maturity.

 

The comparisons to Pink Floyd are well founded, although I think I would take it one step closer and liken Miller's work to Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo career, particularly "On An Island". The music here is fleshed out with atmosphere, built around melancholic songwriting, and brought to life through Miller's lead guitar, of which listeners will hear much of. Although his voice is somewhat plain, Rick uses it well, and his songwriting- often graced with satirical lyrics- works with his subdued vocal approach. Like many other, more laid-back vocalists in prog rock- notably Steven Wilson - Rick Miller distinguishes his vocal talent through beautiful vocal harmonies. The key to his talent lies in the guitar, however.

 

Although much of the album's forty-five minutes is allocated to the more structured elements of his songwriting, he never forgets to give some breathing room for his guitar, home to some of the most tasteful soloing I've heard in a while.

 

Above all, I may be most impressed by the way Miller has produced his work. After having worked in a recording studio for some time, it's clear that this experience has translated well in his work, resulting in a gorgeous sound for "Dark Dreams". With particular regards to his vocal harmonies, Rick's ear for mixing is spot-on. Of course- much like the songwriting- the sound of "Dark Dreams" sticks itself within a fairly tight room. Barring the ethnic ambiance that bookends the record, listeners can expect to hear a fairly straightforward course of melancholic rock, rarely deviating from the slow to mid-tempo pace. For the intents of a 'chill out' album, "Dark Dreams" does not suffer loss, but it would have been nice to hear Rick Miller's artistic vision broadened. His talent and skill of engineering is very evident, but the sense of restraint is never broken.

 

Needless to say, fans of David Gilmour's solo work will love what Rick Miller offers; Rick certainly delivers many of the same traits and qualities that make the former such an icon. "Dark Dreams" rarely leaps out or seeks to surprise, but it creates a warm, welcoming atmosphere for one to sit down and relax to, and I think that's what Miller set out to do all along.

 

Read more »