Era ~ Era

I personally think they could have dumped the electric guitar since it just adds a layer of noise. The vocals are great and the rest of the instruments sound very nice. The book-let is odd and what does that "peom" mean. Ameno is a great track and there are more like it. If they had toned down the use of that annoying electric guitar and used more keyboards and the like it could have been astounding. Electric guitar just sounds bad when played with this kind of music and the guy playing it tries way to hard and it sounds really bad at times. I would say that this is a form of new age music that can be enjoyed by all kinds of people. The cover is quite boring abnd the font looks like a cheap metal album. Apart from this it is a good album that deserves it 4 out of 5 stars.

inside the dungeon...

I give this album 5 stars for the atmosphere that the music on it creates. I am aware of some drawbacks of the production here, but generally I prefer this CD to Era's next outing "Vol.2".



While listening to this album I get the feeling I am walking through a dark and cold and wet dungeon, perhaps of a monastery. I hear the monks chanting somewhere above me, and the weeping guitar simply leads my way through this labyrinthine space.



Love the tracks "Era", "Avemano" and "Mirror", where the beat makes me think of closing of some heavy metal doors, or knocking at the forbidden doors, Enigma once contrived on their first album... And the melancholic ambient intro to "Mother" with a lovely female voice simply blows me away. There are also other great tunes, some of them aren't to be found on some releases like the ambient "After Time", which doesn't include any choir, but has a crunchy guitar solos all through it with Florence Dedam's delicate voice (she also performed on "Mother") between the sharp interludes.



Oh I forgot about, perhaps, the greatest track here, the oniric "Impera". The beat, the long guitar solo and the sad chanting of the choir make this album worth the price.



Simply delirious and enchanting treat for the ears. Highly recommended. Listen attentively, make yourself one with this music...

Like a Monk on speed

There are some listenable parts to this amounting to about 3 minutes worth-I felt my toe tap at one point.
Otherwise it's like a mixture of Enya, Spinal Tap and various other such.
If you choose to close your eyes and picture a monk plugged in with electric guitar, eyes closed, sliding on his knees across the pulpit you may derive some benefit from this listening experience-though it will be from the funny (unintentionally) and not the musical side.