TRACK LIST:

1.  Under the Wind
2.  Heal Intro
3.  Good
4.  Open
5.  Dark
6.  Ends
7.  Cage
8.  Eyes
9.  Idea
10. Heal 
11. People Are Afraid
12. The Adventure of the Whirling Delirium 
13. A Telescope & a Hot Air Balloon
14. Loss
15. Rage
16. Wild As a Toad
17. Magnificent Giant Battles
18. Without Grace

All music: by M Johansson, except 1 & 11: Hansson. 
All lyrics: Jeppsson, except 1, 11: Hansson & 15: F Johansson.
Arranged: by Isildurs Bane. Produced by M. Persson.

LINEUP:

Mats Johansson - keyboards, theremin
Jonas Christophs - lead electric guitar
Mariette Hansson - electric guitar; vocals
Christof Jeppsson - vocals; acoustic guitar
Linnea Ollson - violoncello; vocals
Klas Assarsson - congas, vibes
Kjell Severinsson - drums
Fredrik Johansson - bass 
With:
A violin quartet (1, 11, 18)
Christian Saggese - classical guitar (11)

Analysis. This DVD was documented during the two live performances Isildurs Bane did in one of the music halls in their hometown, Halmstad, in the fall of 2004. The action was shot with the use of ten stationary and two moving cameras, and the music was recorded via two Roland modules of the modern VS-2400's series. These eloquent facts set me free from detailed descriptions of the sound and the picture, whose quality is simply first-rate. (One of the Bonus Material items was crafted in a different place, so I'll get back to that detail in due time.) The basic material, totaling eighteen titles, three of which: Under the Wind, People Are Afraid and Without Grace are new songs, four: The Adventure of the Whirling Delirium, A Telescope & a Hot Air Balloon, Wild As a Toad and Magnificent Giant Battles are live versions of some parts of The Voyage suite from the double CD album of the same name (1992), which preceded the MIND concept series, and the other eleven are renderings and variations of / on the eponymous tracks from "MIND Vol. 4: Pass". All the versions of the stuff from "The Voyage" represent instrumental Classical Music performed by dints of a Progressive Rock quintet and are Isildurs Bane at their most intricate and adventurous. Brilliant stuff, but inasmuch as they aren't as strikingly different from the originals as renderings of those from the band's latest studio effort, I will emphasize the latter ones (as well as the new compositions, of course). Who would doubt that Isildurs Bane, the ensemble of hundreds of musical images, would refuse their natural disposition to endlessly transform their style on this album too? Not me, and I didn't miss in my presupposition, which was, though, an easy task, especially since the band's previous album of renderings, "MIND Vol. 2: Live", received much time in my player. Naturally, the compositions from the band's previous effort are presented here being changed nearly beyond recognition. The quantity of textures of light Classical music, which was a primary direction on "Pass", was greatly reduced; gone are elements of traditional symphonic Art-Rock; the vocals vanished from some of the originally vocal-based sections without leaving a trace, as if they had never been there at all, while others popped up in new places. Vocally, all the renderings of the songs from "Pass" are romantic in character, although one of the three voices in the show, Christof's, is rather husky and, that being said, is more than pronouncedly male. The instrumental arrangements are either both delicate and reflective, such as on Eyes, Heal, Loss and on each of the three new tracks (sung mainly by Mariette alone), or as on Good, Idea, Cage and Rage, are intense and eclectic, often moving far beyond their original framework to enter those Fifth Elementary realms that only Isildurs Bane knows the way to, though they never go the same road twice. The largely instrumental Cage Mk. II turned out to be the most unusual of the songs, striking for its dark and heavy, almost Doom Metal-like sound and the fantastic diversity of musical events. It's a real festival for my ears, as well as the instrumentals: Open, Ends, Heal Intro and Dark, the latter two being much in the same vein as Cage. My personal favorites among the recent renderings are Cage and Dark, the group's most intricate and compelling compositions since "MIND Vol. 2". What's more important about The Observatory, is that all the music, regardless of whether it's complex or accessible, marvelously appears to be simultaneously materially minded and surrealistic. This is undoubtedly due, in some degree, to the eclectic, unusually directed and edited documentary footage, from time to time alternating with the band's onstage performance. Give it an attentive watch, with open eyes and open ears. The footage features an apt musical background and excellently complements the Bane's new concept in general. Most of it appears as an elitist film, reminding me of Andrei Tarkovsky's last movie "The Offering", which, by the way, was shot in Sweden, of all places.

Bonus Material / Audio Tracks* (25+25 min)

TRACK LIST:

1.  The Asylum
2.  Idea II
3.  Celestial Vessel
4.  Without Grace*
5.  People Are Afraid*
6.  Under the Wind*
7.  Thoughts Stand Still*

All music: by M Johansson, except 1: Viking Dahl, 4 & 5: Hansson. 
All lyrics: Hansson. Arranged: by Isildurs Bane. Produced by M. Persson.

LINEUP: 

Same
With:
Fredrik Davidsson - trumpet (3)

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Related Links:

Isildurs Bane

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