{"id":8355,"date":"2021-11-17T16:20:42","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T15:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=8355"},"modified":"2025-11-30T11:49:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T10:49:29","slug":"karibow-age-of-amber-2-cd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/cd-recensie\/karibow-age-of-amber-2-cd\/","title":{"rendered":"Karibow- Age of amber 2 cd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Some 25 years ago, singer\/multi instrumentalist Oliver R\u00fcsing founded the prog band Karibow. He is enormously productive, Karibow has made (including re-releases) more than 20 albums. The latest album is called ‘Age of Amber’. The lyrics of this double album are inspired by the impact Covid has (had). The artwork (as always) is beautiful again. ‘Bodhisattva’ has an extended instrumental intro. Oliver sings the first lines quite softly. With his recognizable voice he also sang the backing vocals, this is stacked up just fine. Not only is his voice recognizable, but the music has the distinct Karibow style. There are several quiet pieces. This opening track ends quietly but abruptly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the volume quite far open, the sampling at the start of “Nations” thunders into the living room quite a bit. At first this seems a little less fitting for the album, but this does have a meaning. The industrial sounds symbolize the dangerous force that a nation can be. The gunshots, explosions and sirens imply violence and destruction.
When speaking of nations, Oliver means that the world is divided into “segments”, through definitions and\/or laws it is specified who is part of the civil society, and who is not. A tiny virus caused great chaos. That virus did not respect man-made borders. The text is also about someone who completely believes what the nation tells him.
This may sound heavy-handed, there is also quite a lot coming your way. Yet this complexly constructed song is nowhere over the top. The two German phrases feel very natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Flawless’ is a duet with Nic Koray, the voices together create a slightly sugary combination. Cool guitar play is added to the quiet flow. This also keeps this song in balance. In the complex ‘Falling Apart at the Seams’ there are several changes of styles. These only last for a short while, so there are also some pieces with a jazzy atmosphere. You may have to get used to the unusual way in which this song ends. ‘The Animal’ is nice and rocking at the beginning, then there is a transition to a quietly played part. The voices of Joe Cairney and Philip Stuckey match Oliver’s voice, vocals and music remain in balance. There is beautiful use of classical elements. A pity that the sound of this doesn’t quite have the warmth I was hoping for. The interplay between orchestral elements and the Karibow sound is good. The subdued part is sensitively played and sung. Compelling guitar playing provides a gradual, cool build up to more pace and volume. This song ends in a mysterious way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CD2
Various sounds give ‘Making Amber’ a mysterious start. The rousing chorus sticks in your head pretty quickly. The small played parts are also nicely played here. ‘Counting Clouds’ begins with the ticking and striking of a clock. At first, vocals and music are subdued\/quiet. The cool guitar solo is by Dave Bainbridge, but there is more fantastic guitar playing to be heard. The ending extinguishes nicely. The positive vibe of vocals and music make parts of ‘Renaissance’ slightly predictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Ambrosia’, consist of four parts. You can tell from the lyrics and sampling that all sorts of things are happening. To understand this, I briefly tell the storyline of these parts. Ambrosia is the drink of the gods, but in Greek literature it is also described as poison for humans. In fact, this drink here represents the separation between divine almightiness and humanity. Helios is the Sun God, he was a vain man. His chariot of fire was drawn by horses, so he rode through the celestial kingdom at great speed. At one point, people no longer believed in his existence. Helios was so hurt that he (with his fire chariot) wanted to leave the world. The goddesses of the moon and dawn tried to convince him to stay. After all, they are also dependent on him (the moon shines only through the sunlight and the dawn exists only through the sunrise).
Through it all, ‘Ambrosia Act I: Your Heavenly Words’ feels almost like a rock opera. The sound of galloping horses is the transition to ‘Ambrosia Act II: Sibling of the Moon’. There are sounds of rain and spoken divine words, among others. Staccato singing is the turn to ‘Ambrosia Act III: Sibling of the Dawn’. Some parts are sung rather quickly, but with the booklet in hand it is easy to understand. After a short silence follows: ‘Ambrosia Act IV: Helios’ this starts with piano playing. The emotion on Oliver’s vocals is easy to hear. Despite the pleading of ‘Moon’ and ‘Dawn’, Helios keeps to his decision and he leaves the world. Thus the world becomes dark and cold, not a happy ending\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sound of the galloping horses reappears several times. The sound of this is a little too flat. The difference in volume, between approaching and riding away is not big enough. The atmosphere of this Greek myth is not fully expressed. Still, it is a beautiful epic of more than 23 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The display indicates a tenth track. The first minute of this hidden track proceeds in silence. Then mysterious music and the German “Sonnegedicht” follow. The English translation can be found on the website. This is a special ending to a special CD. Each track has nice details, twists or sudden changes of style. A few of these feel slightly unnatural, partly because the change is so brief. Not all the sampling is immediately obvious. When you’ve listened a few times, most of it falls into place. ‘Age of Amber’ definitely needs to grow, but is absolutely a good album from Karibow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(83\/100) (Rockwerk Records)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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