05.03.2006

BONUS TRACKS:
The Gentleman of Great Magic [05:30]
Tigers of Everest [04:10]

Hubi J. Meisel - vocals
Vivien Lalu (Lalu) - keys
Marcel Coenen (Sun Caged) - guitars
Jorge Salán (Mago de Oz) - guitars
Daniel Flores (Mind's Eye) - drums
Johan Niemann (Therion) - bass

in Tigers of Everest guitars are by Joop Wolters

Mixed & produced by Hubi Meisel.
Concept by Hubi Meisel
Music by Vivien Lalu
Co-arranged by Hubi Meisel
Lyrics & vocal melodies by Hubi Meisel
Mastered by C. Stickel at MSM Munich

"

Interview with Hubi Meisel

Em Ocean

review  by dalia "gryphon_spirit" di giacomo____      

"Cultivate your own compassion 
By the unity of love". 

These words,  in the lyrics of the song The Great Prayer, can picture the main message of Hubi Meisel's new concept album "Kailash", and can  sum up the  new mysterious and adventurous chapter which takes us to Tibet, starting from Potala Palace, in order to reach then a western zone around the sacred Mount Kailash. Beyond the fact that compassion truly  acts on  heartbeat and DNA and is related to the golden ratio, Kailash itself, the snowy pyramid of rock, the so-called Jewel of Ice, is the centre of ritual devotion and of deep commotion, where Buddhism and Hinduism find an incredible fusion and convergence. Kailash is the throne of Shiva; does s Shiva embody compassion and love, or destruction? very likely both: Life and Death, Goodness and Darkness. Shiva has many forms and dreams the world.  And Mount Kailash, Shiva's throne,  is a place of pilgrimages that require hard physiological effort. Holy land of Divine manifestation, Navel of the Earth, maybe connected with Giza and the Egyptian Pyramids. 

You can have your opinion and your vision about religions,  myths and human feelings, but without trying to understanding this majestic earthly rocky Shrine and all the Euroasiatic secular traditions around it, it is impossible to approach Hubi Meisel's new concept. In fact the music ,  in the gravity of Melodic Rock and  Prog, and even the vocals, represent a  growth of spiritual development if compared with the previous Em Ocean. Em Ocean was more sparkling, totally  mythological, more centered around water and  Atlantis. After more than 2 years, we receive "Kailash"  which is   refined, nonetheless touching, full of feeling, very impalpable at times, able to deliver thin layers, light symphonic traces, airy forms, dancing souls besides a cadenced, strong and supportive rhythmic. 

Hubi Meisel research becomes a true message, a diary telling what Hubi Meisel appreciates the most. Many are the balladesque passages, the chimes, the well modulated carpet of keys. Melodic Rock and Prog metal, instead of  faster rhythms closer to Power . Melody, feeling and teaching.  

"Kailash" is far from clichés  and presents us an Himalayan  Tibet very  bound to India. We realize  that Tibet is not monolithic but rich in facettes: Hubi Meisel reveals us a world made of Tantric forces and  living Mandalas;  a Tibet of lakes (in particular the sacred Manasarovar),  a communion of Hindus, Buddhists, Bonpos, Jains: all equally attracted by the Mount Kailash, whose beauty is almost unreal, located in an even more surreal landscape;  geometries and meditation tell us the path to  eternal harmony. Nevertheless it might be too banal  to think that this new  album  is influenced by the theme "Earth". I am more convinced that it relates to the element Air and to the ability of flying, even ideally, above the material nature. The whole album is marked by the passion towards the height, the illumination, praised at  level of the song The Great Prayer. The sanctuary of brotherhood and empathy can be reached "From New York to Baghdad - From Gaza to Israel. Across the mountains and deepest seas". Actually in many songs you really breath the winds, you follow the story from above. But , according to the law that the point of bigger strength can be, at the same time, a point of weakness, "Kailash" is an album to follow indeed, from the beginning to the end, without thinking that you can arrange some activity while listening. It is a story in cinemascope that needs 100% dedication of time and attention. Otherwise the essence is lost. On the contrary, if you really take your time, you truly live the story and appreciate every moment. I wouldn't suggest this album to very extreme listeners who don't want to go deep into the Tibetan culture of universal spiritual observation, but what  i like is the  intense touching fascination, a kind of  fairytale- attitude, full of cultural details, yet, in my opinion,  too innocently expressed . Finally,  a couple of song could be really extrapolated and used for a romantic even at candlelight. 
It is interesting to notice how Hubi Meisel, with the cooperation of the same great musicianship who played in Em Ocean, can unite the old school core of typical European melodic Rock  with mild  exotic flair. Vocals are very  clear and quiet, lyrics are totally understandable, so that you don't lose any second of the story, nonetheless you have to listen. Therefore the message is a foreground element  in Kailash. 

The protagonist 's adventure begins at Potala Palace, the crown of Lhasa, ascension to the divine City. Meisel mentions the famous rooms, the silken curtains, the amber bowls. The Dalai Lama will survive and when the big flood will come again, Potala Palace will fly above the waves. This is an intersection between Em Ocean's water and Kailash's air. Here it is: pulsing  rhythm and a wide melodic veil, lead solos and woody percussive sounds. 

It follows the impact with the Red Oracle :

 "Travel to the Himalayas 
And bring back peace to Potala!" (peace or piece after all?) ,

and the adventures begins. Mysterious and delicate with particular cymbal sounds so is the intro to the Red Oracle, that proceeds very atmospheric. Vocal gradations are very sinuous: from velvety almost whispered lows to commanding energetic bursts of bright clear voice. Exotic , delicate, fluid, it develops then  into a more energetic authentically Prog track.

Snow Lion is the successive step , a lion with a silver tail manifests himself,and will be  a mighty companion to guide the man "over Bhutan  to Himalaya".  Himalayan Sunset is mysterious and ethereal. It begins reminding a bit  of the famous Name of the Rose, but will  get then both wide majesty and  beautiful rocking melodies. The protagonist has reached Everest's mighty chain and we have reached one of the best tracks and involving moments of the album.   

Shiva's Dance is lively, a beating piece of melodic Rock, with virtuoso solos and a vigorous rhythmic pillar. Shiva, here in female version, represented as in mythology dressed in tiger skin and blue skinned in ecstatic dance. 

"Deep inside the heights of Kailash 
You.ll find a well hidden cave". 

Shiva 's dance resounds and so drumming does. 

The journey goes on towards West, finally it comes the core Kailash - jewel of ice -  the axis of universe appears in a well melodic song that could be also totally independent and appreciable as such. Very melodic, balladesque and a bit anthemic, sung with passion. This is another great track. 13 circuits around Kailash will free the soul clearing the sins of a lifetime, and are  underlined by the 80's melodic atmosphere and a tribal drum attitude. Till the end of fear we arrive at the Wheel of Life, where the music adds a sense of thrilling menace and span through energetic Symphonic to more delicate  moments with varied interplaying of the instrument in full Prog philosophy. 

After a scenario full of sacred symbols the cave is disclosed in  a musical and narrative crescendo like in a modern opera.

Track 8 : Milarepa's Cave of miracles  enchants with gentle chimes and asceticism as well as with  a massive melody, while dreams of peace unite into a silver amulet: pieces of love and meditation give a solid sign of peace . Merdeka, quite experimental and varied, very Prog with some rock short rides, seems somehow anxious in spite of the fact that, come  finally back, the amulet can be handed out to the occupying force. 

The Great Prayer begins with bass though delicate timbre that reminds the OM sounds melt with solitary e guitar and keys followed by a slow arpeggio, and showcases then a  solemn and catchy melody that  would embrace the whole world, in full Middle- European romantic style. White snowy chimes are a breakdown for summoning the deities of light and going back to the final OM like an impalpable wind. rethoric but impressive for sure, well structured concerning music and sound. 

The album is closed then by 2 bonus tracks : The Gentleman of Great Magic is involving, lively  yet very touching  showing  epic, ballade, ancient civilization-mourning and rock passion. This song definitively completes Hubi's Meisel praise for Light, Love and Struggle vanquishing darkness and pain. White against Black; for the Gentleman (Milarepa again?) is a battle done isolated in a cave.
Tigers of Everest is balanced between oriental vibes and western melodic sadness, deals about  sacrifice against  destructors and conquerors 

In my opinion this album delivers a lot of work and dedicated information, tons of starting points around mysticism  and religious, esoteric  manifestations, together with an experienced and sensitive musicianship.  Here and there , Kailash is too forced and too rhetoric in the representation of an (improbable) cosmic love, too "white" for me. But it is surely a precious Rock Prog opus, for all those who love this genre of music and the quest of important  elements in religion, anthropology and geography.

Kailash, the earthly manifestation of Mt. Meru, the spiritual centre of the universe, the  epicenter of life, and, maybe, of compassionate immortality... 

How can this be real? 
I.m just a little man 
How should I solve this mystery. 

rating: 8,9/10

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