NAPRA: OH, WHAT A WORLD! I can see that after three years of very hard work the debut album of Napra has finally been released. To some extent I could gain some insight into its coming into existence so that I can declare now that with every set back something more, better and more convincing came out of it. (The question might have arisen as to whether the fact that band leader Miklós Both was also singing and playing guitar in Barbaro would be a complication, but it soon turned out that this was not the case at all. The thing that differentiates these two etno-rock bands is as apparent as the similarities in their mode of expression.) Although the opening track of Oh, What A World! is entitled 'How Darkness Spread...', it is as clear as daylight that this lightly complex music, full of surprises, possesses a really original sound and a new quality. I could not really decide if it is approaching folk music from progressive rock or just the opposite, but it does not really matter anyway. The certainty is that it handles both traditions according to their own merits, in a precise balance, and these two seem to immensely enjoy each other's company. If any trouble appears at all, it is very small: I personally find the funky style at the beginning of the excellent Ugrós irritating, but to look at it as a whole, well-devised and well-realised tracks follow one after the other on the disc to the last sound. In these songs the folk instruments not only precisely understand each other, but almost speak the same language as the piano, the drums and the guitar. Male voice, female voice, dynamism, strength, zip and lyricism, anything you want, so lest the list of names should be missing: Miklós Both is singing, playing the guitar and creating special effects, Kinga Krámli is singing, Máté Hegedus is playing the violin, Zoltán Bobár is responsible for the keyboard instruments, Kálmán Balogh is playing the cimbalom, Csaba Winter is playing the bass guitar and Ferenc Pfeiler is providing percussion. Last but not least, two excellent English producers, Ben Mandelson and Rob Keyloch worked on the album. An investment like that is really rare and hardly remunerative in our tiny music market. But that is the real thing as I say, it is a hard grind. But now we have it. (www.napra.hu)
RATING: 7.25 / 10
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