s t e v e

Unfortunately, I recently heard that these guys are no longer playing together. But what a great band they were. Nekropsi were part of a modern Turkish progressive music renaissance that began in the early 90s and that is picking up steam today. Dozens of young bands, many of whom grew up on 80s metal, 70s prog/classic rock, while discovering classic local bands like Erkin Koray and Mogollar, are experimenting with adventurous forms of music that mix West with East. In the case of Nekropsi, these guys invented a sound that is instantly appealing. This instrumental band features two guitarists that were clearly influenced by thrash metal guitar. But they turned off their distortion pedals and added Turkish and prog influences. Their sound is rhythmic, light, clear as pure water, and can turn on a dime. At times I'm reminded of The Fucking Champs, and other times I hear some Dream Theater and even El Reloj. The two guitarists do an incredible job of staying away from typical metal cliches that many other bands can't seem to escape from. The drummer is also worth mentioning; his playing is light, yet fits perfectly with the metal-like sound of the band. Once in a while, though, he whips out fast drum patterns that are as frantic as the drums on Citta' Frontale's El Tor. The CD isn't entirely perfect, of course. The first six tracks are top-quality. We find a band full of ideas, intelligence, and energy. But, for some reason, they decided to slow things down toward the middle of the album. Their Pink Floyd influence, maybe? Things don't pick up again until the ninth track. Mi Kubbesi is also a long CD; a few tracks could have been left out, and things start to drag a bit towards the end. Overall, though, there is something for everyone. Metal fans and guitarists will enjoy almost every track here. Prog fans who aren't really into metal will find most of the tracks appealing. review by Steve Hegede — undated —

b r a n d o n

It's definitely cool that an obscure band from Turkey with only one release under their belts can stir up controversy among prog fans. Some people absolutely love this album, some hate it. It certainly has its unique parts - dark, brooding progressive rock combined with the occasional Middle-Eastern influences. Unfortunately, the band also toys at times with heavy metal guitar riffing, which turns many a fan off, including myself. I really love the opening few pieces here, which have a brooding yet somehow mystical feel to them and explore a pretty original set of textures and colors. "Efsane" and "Carsi" in particular are really nice pieces with heavy folk influences. However, two things go wrong from here: first, the metal influences seem to enter more and more (for me, ruining the nice balance between folk and rock influence), and second, the album is just too long. The mood and texture never really changes much, and the same dark, somber stuff for 73 minutes gets to be a bit much. Finally, apart from the compositional flaws, the production is pretty weak, and some songs that should rip fall flat. In terms of progressive rock influences, this is another of those albums that has been described as a cross between King Crimson's intensity (nothing here really approaches that band's compositional complexity, though) and Pink Floyd's spaciness. There's also somewhat of a loose jam feel that brings vague space-rock influences to mind. The odd juxtaposition of folk and metal influences, though, pretty much guarantees that this one is difficult to compare to most other prog out there. For anyone looking for something obscure and somewhat original, this isn't a bad release to pick up; just don't expect to be blown away. Myself, I like about half of this stuff quite a bit. review by Brandon Wu — 10-24-00 —