Record Reviews

ORANZADA ~ KARMA TANGO AUDIO CAVE 2023/002 (Barcode: 5908298549599) ~ POLAND ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2021 - 2022 Released: 2023 This is the fifth studio album by Polish Prog / Rock group OranzadaFind albums by this artist, which comprises of vocalist / guitarist Michal KrzysztofiakFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Maciej LabudzkiFind albums by this artist, bassist Robert DerlatkaFind albums by this artist and drummer Artur RzempoluchFind albums by this artist. A couple of additional musicians appear on selected tracks. The album presents ten songs, all co-credited collectively to the group members. The group has a twenty years’ history behind them and this album follows a ten years gap in their recording output. The sound and general attitude is a mixture of Neo Prog and Psychedelic Rock, nor really innovative but definitely solid as far these genres are concerned. The compositions are all quite nice, with the lyrical ballads being stronger than the Rockier songs. Some World music influences, Psychedelic vistas and nice flute parts give the album a strong retro feel going back as far as the late 1960s at times, which is fine of course. However, the album lacks any impressive instrumental soloing and the vocal parts (in English and Polish) are the weakest part of the entire affair, so much so, that the album would probably sound better entirely without the vocal parts. A strong lead vocalist (preferably female) would fit the bill perfectly. Overall, this is a nice, sort of Prog album, with good melodic songs and pleasant retro atmosphere, but definitely not something which would knock any Prog fan off their feet. On the other hand, considering how weak contemporary Prog is these days, this album is definitely worth a spin.

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted: 08/05/2023

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ORANZADA ~ SALTO AUDIO CAVE 2025/001 (Barcode: 5908298549902) ~ POLAND ~ Electronic & Ambient Recorded: 2023 Released: 2025 This is the 6th album by Polish Rock group OranzadaFind albums by this artist, which comprises of guitarist Michal KrzysztofiakFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Maciej LabudzkiFind albums by this artist, bass guitarist Robert DerlatkaFind albums by this artist and drummer Artur RzempoluchFind albums by this artist. A couple of guests appear on one track. The album presets seven tracks, all co-composed by the group members. The music is all, except for the one track with guests, instrumental and involves a prominent element of ambient instrumental improvisation, which makes this album quite different from their earlier output. As a result, the music is almost completely bare of any melodic continuity, and the ambient elements and improvised parts are not interesting enough to keep the listener attracted to the music. Of course this is just my very personal reaction and other people might find the album absorbing, but it left me completely cold. It seems that after many years of playing together, the group is searching for a new path, which of course is commendable, so this album might be just a transient phase. One hopes they will find themselves next time. Overall, this is a strange, or estranged, collection of ambient pieces, which lingers slowly without going anywhere specific, and as far as your truly is concerned, is simply lackluster.

Updated: 01/09/2025Posted: 01/09/2025

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