Otavan Veret — Otavan Veret
“I” starts with a heavily massive, cosmic sound. One long beautiful note reverberating, expanding and separating into the sound of bells tolling. There is something very percussive about this that suggests movement (the start of our journey?). A chanting voice in the background gives a rather ritualistic atmosphere; all in all there are lots of hills and valley musically and atmospherically. There is almost a feeling of eeriness but yet we also have a dream-like innocence too.
“II” begins with a powerful kettle drum, very nearly giving it a martial touch; it’s quite rigid in sound and precise. Keyboards unite with it morphing to a somber touch. With every beat it rows louder, very wistful in emotion, as if reaching out to the past. The sounds crescendo then falls neatly into a thumping heartbeat.
“III” also commences with a strong percussive sound but here it lends to a majestic air. Whereas “II” felt a bit martial in sound, “III” has a mechanical tinge to it; and if “II” was a longing for the past, “III” feels like striding confidently into a foreboding future. Like the other pieces ( I’m not labeling these songs as such because they feel more like movements meant to be intertwined with each other), each one is fairly lengthy, around 12-18 minutes respectively.
Otavan Veret has given us a fantastical journey indeed without sacrificing sound, emotion or atmosphere. A well done debut thoughtfully arranged and played as well as clever in concept