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Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [CD+DVD] {7Stones Records}

Posted By: ruskaval

Date: 15 Nov 2013 13:12:09

Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [CD+DVD] {7Stones Records}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 423 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 160 Mb
DVD9 -> 6.06 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 16:9 | LinearPCM, 2 ch / Dolby AC3, 6 ch / DTS, 6 ch | ~47m | ISO Image
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 344 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2012 7Stones Records / Tigermoth Records | TMPCD1012
Rock / Art Rock / Folk Rock / Progressive Rock

It would be difficult to imagine an album project more ambitious than "Beneath the Waves", a concept album sprung from the blood, sweat and tears of Rob Reed, founder of welsh progressive-rock band Magenta. Not only has Reed spent three years concocting this gem, gathering leading prog talents, but he managed to finish it in the same year his regular band has already produced a very good album, Chameleon. It is not unheard of -Gahalad for example has published two pretty good albums of new material in 2012- but it is still a tour de force.

In addition to the sheer musical work involved, Reed has had to face production issues with a manufacturer that first pushed back the release date at the last moment, then presented a first pressing that Reed deemed unacceptable and sent back. Ironically in 2012, the only version of the album available for a while was the vinyl! The joys of entrepreneurship…

The effort was worth it. Even though 2012 has turned out to be a banner year for progressive rock, the Kompendium project stands out. Magenta itself was created in 1999 to bring back the nostalgia of the original prog rock with its meandering risk taking and superior musicianship. Kompendium pushes the envelope further.

At the core, Beneath the Waves spins a dark romantic sea-tale seemingly based on an early 20th century news item: Connor McGregor is a man broken with grief. His wife Lilly committed suicide shortly after the death of their first child, leaving him with an almost unbearable sense of guilt. Then, during a fishing trip, his ship encounters a storm and sinks. Connor is the only survivor but comes back believing that Lilly has reached out to him during the catastrophe and is longing to be reunited with him. Connor closes himself more and more and takes long strolls on the beach. Eventually, one day, he does not come back….

For all its gloom, the story is not treated musically as dark and depressing. It is soulful through and through. Fundamentally, it is reminiscent of Magenta, of course, and some songs, like Lost or Alone, could be straight out of a Magenta album. And band regulars Christina Booth, Chris Fry and Steve Reed participate in the project.

But it veers away from Magenta, notably in using many voices, primarily two lead pop voices (Angharad Brinn and Steve Balsamo), two lead operatic voices (Shan Cothi and Rhys Meirion), and several choir configurations. On the instrument side, Reed has assembled the most impressive roster of major players this side of a tribute album: Nick Barrett, Mel Collins, Steve Hackett, Gavin Harrison, Jakko Jakszyk, John Mitchell, Dave Stewart, Neil Taylor and the omnipresent Troy Donockley, whose uilleann pipes and whistles give the whole production a distant Iona echo. In fact, the whole project has strong celtic overtones, from Donockley's sounds to a very strong presence of kymric artists. Yet it does not get trapped into celtic-rock. The title track, for example, is often dominated by guitar and sounds resolutely like a mix of rock and world music.

This embarrassment of riches is put to good use. In some cases, the songs are terse and simple, like the beautiful Lily, carried by Steve Hackett. In others, it leads to dream collaborations like the longest and most ambitious construction of the album, the 11mn The Storm where no fewer than four musicians share guitar duty to good effect… In addition, this cross-pollination allows Reed to break the mold of modern prog-rock, often defined by modest audiences, limited profitability and do-it-yourself production, leading to products often a little too recognizable or repetitive. For example, the opening track -and second longest- Exordium, is accompanied by Nick Barret's guitar. For better or for worse, Barrett's Pendragon sound is very recognizable and sometimes goes into same'ol same'ol mode. But here, even though it is as identifiable, it is perfect and fresh, in the company of Harrison's drumming and Donockley's piping. By the same token, even the most Magenta-sounding moments come at you from a different angle since they are not accompanied by Christina Booth's otherwise beautiful voice. It makes me think of Mark Jansen's 2011 project Quarterpast from his side band MaYaN. With his regular symphonic metal band Epica, Jansen has created a sound defined primarily by lead singer Simone Simons' voice. With MaYan, Jansen could explore variations on a theme with an expanded roster of collaborators, with excellent result. Rob Reed does the same here.

This may be a once-in-a-career album. And it is a towering success. Don't miss it.

Personnel:
Rob Reed (Magenta)
Steve Hackett (Genesis) - Nylon Guitar;
Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) - Drums;
Nick Beggs (Steve Hackett Band, Kajagoogoo) – Chapman Stick;
Troy Donockley (Nightwish, Bad Shepherds etc) - Uilleann Pipes, Whistles;
Nick Barrett (Pendragon) - Guitar,
Neil Taylor (Tears for Fears, Robbie Williams) - Guitar;
Jakko Jackzyk (20th Century Schizoid Band) - Guitar;
Francis Dunnery (ex It Bites) - Guitar,
John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost) - Guitar,
Mel Collins (King Crimson, Camel) - Sax,
BJ Cole (Elton John, David Gilmour) - Pedal Steel Guitar,
Chris Fry (Magenta) - Guitar and Christina Booth (Magenta) - Backing Vocals - and introducing the vocal talents of Angharad Bryn in the role of Lily.

The English Chamber Choir conducted by Guy Protheroe, the London Session Orchestra conducted by Dave Stewart plus renowned opera singers Rhys Meirion and Shan Cothi. Steve Reed (Magenta) and artwork by Geoff Taylor (War of the Worlds).

tracklist:
CD
01. Exordium
02. Lost
03. Lilly
04. Mercy Of The Sea
05. The Storm
06. Beneath The Waves
07. Sole Survivor
08. Alone
09. Il Tempo E Giunto
10. A Moment Of Clarity
11. One Small Step
12. Reunion

DVD
dvd audio
24/96 5.1 Surround Mix
DTS 5.1 Surround Mix
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Mix
01. Exordium
02. Lost
03. Lilly
04. Mercy Of The Sea
05. The Storm
06. Beneath The Waves
07. Sole Survivor
08. Alone
09. Il Tempo E Giunto
10. A Moment Of Clarity
11. One Small Step
12. Reunion

Music Videos
Lilly
Beneath The Waves
Mercy Of The Sea
The Kompendium Session Videos

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009

EAC extraction logfile from 22. October 2013, 0:04

Kompendium / Beneath the Waves

Used drive : PLEXTOR DVDR PX-L890SA Adapter: 6 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=EAC FLAC -8" %s

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 8:55.30 | 0 | 40154
2 | 8:55.30 | 6:05.06 | 40155 | 67535
3 | 15:00.36 | 4:04.54 | 67536 | 85889
4 | 19:05.15 | 6:10.47 | 85890 | 113686
5 | 25:15.62 | 11:03.20 | 113687 | 163431
6 | 36:19.07 | 5:51.26 | 163432 | 189782
7 | 42:10.33 | 3:25.40 | 189783 | 205197
8 | 45:35.73 | 5:06.63 | 205198 | 228210
9 | 50:42.61 | 3:08.37 | 228211 | 242347
10 | 53:51.23 | 4:16.56 | 242348 | 261603
11 | 58:08.04 | 3:20.67 | 261604 | 276670
12 | 61:28.71 | 5:45.35 | 276671 | 302580

Track 1

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\01 - Exordium.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 9229700E
Copy CRC 9229700E
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [5B438122]
Copy OK

Track 2

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\02 - Lost.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6DCEB397
Copy CRC 6DCEB397
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [434505B2]
Copy OK

Track 3

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\03 - Lilly.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 3725E25A
Copy CRC 3725E25A
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [C03451D0]
Copy OK

Track 4

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\04 - Mercy of the Sea.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC E5F8EAB3
Copy CRC E5F8EAB3
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [959AC434]
Copy OK

Track 5

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\05 - The Storm.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 7E5D9FCD
Copy CRC 7E5D9FCD
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [01C6F82D]
Copy OK

Track 6

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\06 - Beneath the Waves.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 9DEEF92A
Copy CRC 9DEEF92A
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [C466074F]
Copy OK

Track 7

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\07 - Sole Survivor.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 4B89D370
Copy CRC 4B89D370
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [09B8315C]
Copy OK

Track 8

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\08 - Alone.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC BE9BB292
Copy CRC BE9BB292
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [B4B2B3C6]
Copy OK

Track 9

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\09 - Il Tempo и Giunto.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC BFBC6191
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Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [3F34D1E0]
Copy OK

Track 10

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\10 - A Moment of Clarity.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B961BCA9
Copy CRC B961BCA9
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [D3FF5AFB]
Copy OK

Track 11

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\11 - One Small Step.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 06FE9B04
Copy CRC 06FE9B04
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [84D6D16A]
Copy OK

Track 12

Filename L:\Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012) [FLAC] (Bonus DVD9 NTSC)\12 - Reunion.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 4E9BDE71
Copy CRC 4E9BDE71
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [2DB29AFC]
Copy OK

All tracks accurately ripped

No errors occurred

End of status report