Space Cowboy (Gazpacho, 2020)

Gazpacho refined their own kind of prog all along their career, mixing atmospheric mood, some majestic arrangements and bits of heavy rock from time to time. They're always enjoyable and highly professional, but you need more to set up a beautiful song. And when they find these bonus ingredients they really are perfect to me. The "bonus" are, of course, good melodies. You'll find at least two in this suite titled Space Cowboy and coming from the 2020 album Fireworker. And that's not all. 

Another beautiful cover art by Antonio Seijas. 

The band master here some interesting (and sometimes dangerous) elements like a powerful choir and a strong diversity between the track's different parts. Both these peculiarities demand a solid sense of proportion, but Gazpacho have the experience and the right taste to succeed in such a task. That's why this suite flows like a beautiful river passing through many different landscapes and growing more and more stimulating each time you listen to it. The lyrics about the hidden animal insinct inside men (the concept of the whole album) and the way this human trait goes through eras and generations adds some more food for thought. What else should we ask?

Know Your Time (Gazpacho, 2015)

Since the early 2010s Gazpacho evolved from a mellow and captivating mix of pop and prog to a darker and somehow spiced post-progressive sound, including moments of ethereal beauty and a rich, even ethnic choice of instruments. This song, taken from the album "Molok" is a good example of this phase of the band's career. Arcane sounds and solid guitars surround the vocals by Jan-Henrik Ohme, much in the style of Marillion's Steve Hogarth.

Another fascinating cover. I really like the colours here.

The mood changes are very well done, especially when a tight line gets a wider breath, or when an acoustic passage follows electric ones. That's why I like "Know Your Time" and its unpredictable stream of creative music. I won't even try to explain the tricky theories about God and ancient religions behind this track and the whole album, but I confess I love the way Gazpacho approach such a challenging concept keeping their feet well on the ground.

Death Room (Gazpacho, 2014)

As I might have written somewhere in this blog, Gazpacho are a constantly improving band and "Demon" surely is one of my favourite 2014 albums. It was difficult to choose the first song from it to put here, but "Death Room" is a three part suite and I'm partial to suites, as you may remember. As the rest of the CD, this is a diversified song, including rock, folk, melodic and pop elements. 

 

"Demon" was the eighth studio album by Gazpacho.

It's a rather dark song (well, there's a "Demon" concept, after all...) lining up soft and hard moods and a very rich rythmic texture with bass guitar and percussions at their best. Melodies are very good and the band knows how to exploit their themes, going in and out them and building up a coherent and riveting plot. More than this, "Death Room" creates an entire magic world and its good and bad characters through a stunning series of musical details and conflicting sounds. Last but not least, Jan Henrik Ohme's vocals are simply perfect. Well done, boys!

Massive Illusion (Gazpacho, 2011)

When Gazpacho abandoned their previous attempt to reach pop mainstream and came back to longer and more complex songs, they produced sad and beautiful songs like this "Massive Illusion". As the whole "Night" album, the general mood is similar to what some would call post-prog style, but this kind of nocturnal, down tempo, atmospheric songwriting has always be a central part of the Scandinavian progressive rock. The song is both charming and variated, lining up electric and acoustic moments, all rather dark but never too monotone.

One of the finest records by Gazpacho, IMHO.

It's a perfect track for those who like to explore their own inner gardens guided by the music and actually this "Massive Illusion" seems to dig inside my soul each time I listen to it. Guitars,keyboards and the lonely violin of the longest instrumental section are like windows open wide onto an obscure world. Apparently peaceful and discreet, this composition is also disquieting and stingy, so that I can't keep it in the background and I regularly find myself somewhat affected by it. Thanks God, I'd say.

Desert Flight (Gazpacho, 2009)

Gazpacho are a very eclectic band, whose solutions mid way between pop and prog are usually pleasant and in a rapid evolution during their career. This is the opening track of their “Tick Tock” album and I like the way they put together two very different ideas. The first one is a fast tempo, bombastic song, strongly influenced by Muse and the so called operatic rock, featuring a very good melody and an impressive wall of sound.

"Tick Tock" was the fifth Gazpacho's album.

Then, the mood changes and you’re in a gloomy, dramatic, almost instrumental music with a scent of Asian ethnic sound, slowly growing up both in tempo and volume, but with a moving acoustic finale. So, even if they quote some contemporary models, Gazpacho build up a very original piece of music, unpredictable and striking, something you can easily call prog rock. And, what’s more, something emotional.