This Hungarian post-rock trio from Budapest is causing quite a stir in the progressive world. Soma Balàzs, Dàniel Nyitray and Zsombor Lehoczky concoct cinematic soundscapes that defy convention, heavily reliant on mood, shade, sunlight and shadow to inspire closed eyes and open ears into traversing into another universe of self-reflection and thought. Interesting anecdote, the band plays live facing each other instead of the audience, who traditionally listen to the music with closed eyes. Talk about intimacy on multiple levels, quite unique. So, if you are desperate for technical displays of virtuoso showmanship, with bone shattering velocity and impossible phrasing, well , you might be bitterly disappointed. The dual guitars are outright meditative and oblique while the drum attack can be described as muscular and athletic, the word TÖRZS means tribe and Menedék, refuge or shelter. The opening epic is getting a fair amount of traction of prog radio stations and web sites, proving once again, ad infinitum , just how wide the panorama of styles can be in modern progressive rock, as it can frankly encompass all the other genres attributes into the mix.
The nearly 13-minute opener “Egy Pillanatban a Végtelen” (The Infinite in a Moment) is what is getting the community all excited as it’s a resounding extroverted intervention in sonic disguise, with a definite post-rock veneer flirting with minimalist Eno-esque tendencies, as if the music was painting the air in a room. One can easily imagine the musicians and the audience in rapt concentration, letting go of all the routine banalities of daily life, and venturing into another level of exaltation, the electric guitars clanging majestically while the drums provide all the percussive mania needed to transcend the trivial and the predictable. The arrangements can be analyzed in distinct fluid segments, a repetitive piece only to those who are busy watching their phones, as the level keeps rising in paroxysm, heading towards some personal absolution. Repeated listens provide an even more cathartic impression, as if some semblance of eternity has finally manifested itself musically and helped find the gates of heaven. While incomparable in all facets to a classic like “the Great Gig in the Sky”, this magnificent track certainly offers a slight resemblance albeit with a different voice, but perhaps the same outcome: deliverance.
“Levegovétel” (air intake) is mercifully, a different beast altogether, as it starts out raw and pounding the pavement with a leaden tempo, soon quieting down from the effort, into another absorbed inner vision of contemplation. The delicate mid-section is divinely restrained, flicks of the wrist over the pick-ups searching for space, a shift in tone marking success, with tons of shrouded reverb and echo. When the syncopating cymbals and marching skins kick in, the drive becomes alive. The ensuing quiet yields a new angle, the guitar discovering new horizons, profoundly drenched in psychedelia.
The melodic “Atfordul” (Turn Around) maintains the complex simplicity, within a more accessible mood, as if a sense of tenderness and affection was needed to soften the bruised heart, the stimulating chords embracing the spirit, an electric hug of comfort and passion. There is a Floydian feel evident from the bluesier guitar declarations, yet the drums keep on bashing away in exalted pandemonium. Remarkable.
As the title might imply , “Foldet Ér” (reach land) is an earthier concoction, highlighting the notion of imminent arrival, the long journey back finally beckoning over the horizon of time and space, fueled by a sense of ‘resting the bones by the fire’. Soft paced, yet focused, with a feeling of safety and comfort of heading back home, a home where the heart always remains waiting.
Unsurprisingly, the final track is “Otthon” (Home, but in Hungarian can often mean homeland for expats or even family), and as life is just an endless beginning anyways, the tempo here is solemn and gracious, very similar to the opening track, but with a different sensibility. The arrangement perfectly captures those emotions of safety of our walls and the roof above our head, the privacy of what one can hold dear, the desire to live in peace and tranquility, to rest and continue on the sometime arduous but always revealing journey of life, so new challenges and experiences can be met with trepidation. The finale is joyous.
Together with the impressive Deposed King, Hungary keeps the prog flame alive and burning brightly. A meritorious addition to any collection yearning to be eclectic and diverse.
4.5 Sanctuaries