Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Nektar
Label: Bellaphon
Release: 2008
Rating: 4/5
Nektar, the indestructible legends of space-rock-flavored prog, are back after four years with a new studio album, “Book Of Days”, their eleventh overall. It’s a small event for the wheezing modern music industry, but a huge one for every progressive rock gourmet who never lost faith, even in the digital age, in one of the best and most influential British bands the 70s ever threw up. Bandleader, guitarist and singer Roye Albrighton, who along with drummer Ron Howden is the only original member left, keeps pushing his musical vision of esotericism, majestic instrumental expanses and busting through genre boundaries well into the 21st century.
For most of their career Nektar carried the label of a German band. Not because of the members, who were without exception English through and through (leaving aside the two Americans, short-lived singer/guitarist Dave Nelson and keyboardist Larry Fast, who was only an official guest musician anyway), but because they lived and recorded in Germany for most of their career (and also scored their biggest commercial successes there in the mid-70s). With the arrival of two German recruits, keyboardist/backing vocalist Klaus Henatsch and bassist Peter Pichl (ex-Running Wild), who joined just before the new album sessions began, they’ve become a half-German lineup for the first time in their history.
“Book Of Days” was supposed to come out at the end of 2006, but problems with their management at the time pushed the release back a full 18 months. Important management changes followed, leading to the band’s complete independence and, as this album shows, paying off in a very positive way. Like its solid predecessor “Evolution” (2004), “Book Of Days” is a concept album, revolving around the ever-relevant status and influence of man in the modern world and his lifestyle, with all the positive and negative side effects included. “Book Of Days” proves that Nektar are enjoying a new spring, because it’s packed with the traditional space rock virtues, with plenty of motifs recalling the golden days, as well as a few excellent melodic rock moments. There’s also no shortage of instrumental detours with fragmented rhythm sections and majestic keyboard arrangements. The central “star” is, as always, Albrighton, who keeps proving he’s not only one of the best and most original guitarists of our time, but also owns one of the most beautiful voices in progressive rock.
The album opens with the energetic “Over Krakatoa”, which stands out for its solid hard rock riffing and dramatic layers of synths that turn delicate the very next moment. Krakatoa, by the way, is a volcanic island in Indonesia, somewhere between Java and Sumatra, and fittingly the track is full of eruptions of resolute guitar riffs. Roye’s vocals are run entirely through a vocoder here, and after the initial shock this gives listeners used to his warm, melodic voice, it fits the atmosphere of the track really well. The song doesn’t skimp on fragmented rhythms and spacey guitar and keyboard solos. Roye is still a master at conjuring up energetic riffs and mouth-watering solos that blend perfectly into the melodic backdrop of layered keyboards.
The band keeps up the energetic, shifting rhythms on the epic “King Of The Deep” too. The intro is soaked in the sounds of Klaus’s Hammond organ and excellent, melodic guitar passages. Roye’s vocals once again sound just the way we’re used to, proving he’s lost very little of his old warmth and melodic color, with that feel for drama, over the years. He’s still one of the most moving and charismatic voices in the history of progressive rock. In the second half the composition shifts into a completely different mood, a calmer ambient phase with mysterious keyboard sounds, while Roye builds the drama with alternating pastoral chords on acoustic guitar. Eventually he starts weaving a splendid solo on electric guitar, which brings back the central chorus over the sound of the Hammond, one that could easily sit on any of their classic albums.
The short instrumental “Lamorna” is a gentle pastoral piece on acoustic guitar that also serves as an overture to the next track. Lamorna is, incidentally, the name of a tiny fishing village on the edge of the English region of Cornwall, as well as the title of a traditional British folk song. Next comes the excellent, 11-plus-minute “Doctor Kool”, another epic composition with a heaping dose of traditional Nektar goodness, flirting mostly with melodic rock. The main “culprit” is the melodic motif built from layered harmonies, sharpened riffing and a funky rhythm. Roye’s singing, crowned with that special pathos of his, is once again like in his best days, and the multi-part vocal harmonies awaken that nostalgic Nektar romance. The chorus is, just like the name of the song, truly “kool”. This is without a doubt one of the best things on the album, and you can even catch a few stylistic parallels with the immortal Nektar classic “Remember The Future”.
The album gets better by the minute. The somewhat darker “Where Are You Now?” has an unusual start, opening straight away with a weeping guitar solo and the sharp sound of Hammond organs. For a short while it slips into an avant-garde section, which is cut off by sawing riffing and Roye’s mysterious vocals, ramping up the drama more and more with synth samples and special effects. After an intrusion of romantic ambient keyboard curtains, when Roye’s voice climbs into higher registers, the space rock magic is complete and the listener can fully surrender to a spiritual journey into another dimension. That ends when obscure effects creep in, followed by almost metallic passages with sharp riffing and mighty drum hits. This is when the best part of the composition arrives, as Roye plays a voluptuous guitar solo while keyboard passages flow in the background over a still punchy rhythm. The ending brings back that dreamy, ambient motif. Yet another outstanding composition that will no doubt earn Nektar classic status over time.
“The Iceman” is another one of the peaks, and it could be split into two sections. The first part features an excellent instrumental intro with a funky rhythm line over which Roye conjures up his guitar masterpieces, ranging from sharp riffing and melodic arpeggios to a whole bunch of outstanding solos. Eventually Roye’s vocals come in, noticeably sarcastic and mocking here, fitting perfectly with the funky bass rhythms and wound-up riffs. The track continues with a section of dreamy, romantic vocals and atmospheric orchestral arrangements. After that the band manages to stage (once again) a few unforgettable instrumental passages, on the level of the space rock of their golden days. This is a majestic composition of many musical elements and moods, whose sounds take the listener’s spirit on an unforgettable journey across vast cosmic plains. The band rightly decided to close an album that otherwise brims with energy on a somewhat calmer note. “Book Of Days (Between The Lines)” is a magical romantic ballad with Roye’s heart-rending vocals and gorgeous acoustic guitar chords that create an exceptionally nostalgic melody. The follow-up, “Book Of Days”, follows a similar recipe, with simple orchestral keyboard arrangements, Roye’s melancholic vocals and the obligatory finish with a “weeping” guitar solo
With “Book Of Days”, which by the way is their best album since the end of the 70s and a minor sonic rebirth, Nektar certainly haven’t discovered any new musical horizons. Nor did they manage to catch the interest of the wider music community, which they didn’t count on anyway, since they now create only for their own pleasure and for their incredibly loyal base of followers, who are their main fuel these days. It’s clear they left their best times behind them back with the unrepeatable “Recycled” (1975). But ever since returning to the scene in the late 90s, they’ve been trending toward better and better releases, and this album is a lovely proof of that claim. If “The Prodigal Son” (2001) was still pretty average and “Evolution” very solid, “Book Of Days” is already an excellent piece of work, and compared to those two it surely deserves masterpiece status among all their true-believer worshippers. With “Book Of Days” Nektar confirmed that they keep the unpredictability and high standard of their musical creations. That it was made without any outside pressure is more than obvious, because the band sounds hungrier to prove themselves than it has in a long time. There’s no point in dwelling on the very sad fact that most of the younger generations today know them (if at all) only through the Iron Maiden cover of the classic “King Of Twilight”. The incredibly loyal base of followers will always stand behind them and cheer them on toward new feats, so that one day they can look back with joy on the (current) future.
Lineup
Roye Albrighton – vocals, guitar
Peter Pichl – bass guitar, backing vocals
Klaus Henatsch – keyboards, backing vocals
Ron Howden – drums
Production
Nektar
Tracklist
1.) Over Krakatoa
2.) King Of The Deep
3.) Lamorna
4.) Doctor Kool
5.) The Iceman
6.) Where Are You Now
7.) Book Of Days (Between The Lines)
8.) Book Of Days
Album length: 54:36
