Ahoora
Ahoora
(?)
I have to admit it's not uncommon for us, here at Clouds And Clocks, to receive
some weird stuff. And once in a while we get some really weird stuff. Case
in point: It was around Christmas that we got an e-mail message from...
well, from somebody who said to be writing about his group, which he described
as being
"an Iranian progressive power metal band". At first I thought it
was a prank - I mean, "an Iranian metal band" sounds pretty peculiar
to me, with or without the tag "progressive power". I mean, isn't
Heavy Metal banned in that country? To help me better understand, it was
said that one of the group's crucial influences were Iced Earth - a group
whose name, it goes without saying, I'd never heard in my life. I was about
to throw this strange letter into the waste basket when I thought that maybe
- well, maybe - this could be for real. "An Iranian progressive power
metal band", you say, right?
Well,
it turned out to be true. Ahoora (yep, that's their name) turned out to
be a quartet of young, technically quite skilled, and very talented musicians (Ashkan Hadavand Khani, lead vocals; Milad Tangshir, guitars;
Mohammad Baei, bass; Ali Masoomi, drums) who had somehow released an album
of the same name, with lyrics in English. I have to admit in cases like
this my first instinct is wanting to help - but how? Am I qualified to
listen to - and review! - an album of Metal? I mean, what do I know about
metal?
Well, I would never say "plenty", but I know more than
a few things. It's painfully obvious that I lack the systematic approach
of somebody who regularly listen to the stuff, and I'm sure I don't know
the first thing about all the various subgenres Metal has subdivided into
in the last couple of decades. But what about an outsider's view? Well,
let me make a fool of myself (insert deep breath here).
Too
young to even get to know about early Who and Jeff Beck-era Yardbirds,
I became somewhat familiar with "heavy guitar" in the form of
Hendrix and Clapton (in his Cream days). It's really funny to think back
about the way things turned out to be in... well, Metal (here I could start
a lengthy discussion about the hows and the whys "hard" and "heavy" Rock
and Metal differ... but I just won't, OK?) when it comes to the (c)overt
influence of the three reigning bands of the early 70s: Led Zeppelin, Deep
Purple and Black Sabbath, with the third group (a distant third at the
time in terms of the width of musical territory covered, technical skill,
instrumental finesse... well, they sure got the first prize for boominess
and tackiness) that would turn out to be the most influential on whole
genres of modern music. Though it's quite obvious that Jimmy Page gets
mentioned a lot less than his real influence would deserve (Kashmir, anyone?),
while the "European sounding" Ritchie Blackmore proved to be
the missing link between the
"old school" and the "modern metal", scalloped fingerboard
and all. It's also quite peculiar how some things that at the time were seen
as being just a minor aberration - Motorhead, say - proved to have such a
lasting influence. And how some groups that at the time were seen as "second-hand
imitators" (and yes, those clothes didn't help) - think: Judas Priest,
Iron Maiden and Def Leppard - in the end came to be regarded as
"originals".
Some
trends are (somewhat) clear, however. For instance, the disappearance of
the blues pentatonic scale as being the main mode of expression. But these
things ultimately come and go, with the old becoming once again the new
- think Metallica, from Master Of Puppets to the "Black Album" to
the cover of Bob Seeger's Turn The Page. And in the States things were
always more complex that they appeared at first sight - check the multitude
of genres featured on Blue Öyster Cult's debut album, released in 1972.
And of course, it's not that one has to really reveal the identity of those
one really listens to - it's just me, or in the 80s a lot of metal guitarists
were listening to Allan Holdsworth? Obviously, one will underestimate the
influence of Eddie Van Halen at one's own peril - yes, Robert Johnson and
Jimi Hendrix, sure; let's add Mandrill; but those were not the first names
that came to mind when listening to Living Colour's Vernon Reid. And let's
not forget about those wide, flat fingerboards (Hamer, ESP, Jackson...)
and Floyd Rose tremolos.
Where
does it all lead us? It's not easy to say. There was an interesting article
by Chris Cutler that appeared about twenty years ago on the ReR Quarterly
about Skill and (sub)cultural issues concerning punk, new wave and metal
(wonder whether it can be found online). One really has the feeling that
for the most part the press has always seen Metal as an embarrassment -
even when compared to hip-hop and techno! (Just a touch of irony on my
part.) It's true, Metal is limited and set in his ways - but this can also
be called an
"identity", right? Whatever the reason(s), while modern hip-hop
has become the mainstream, and techno has in some ways been absorbed into
the mainstream, Metal has remained a "fringe" cult, albeit a massive
one. (One doesn't have to forget about Joe Satriani, whose melodicism makes
him stand apart from Metal.)
One
very important thing we forget at our own peril is the fact that for many
Metal is a music that still maintains a quality of "authenticity" (I
hope this is clear), a fact that makes this music much more than a "form".
Hence, the oppositional quality Metal appears to possess for most of those
who like it, be it players or listeners.
Ahoora
features six tracks for a total of 53'. The album closes with the same
arpeggio that is placed at the very beginning of the first track, hence
the sense of a loop. The four musicians are all really good, with vocals
(lead and background) being quite versatile for the genre, agile drums
(excellent bass drum), an electric bass that sometimes doubles the riffs
and sometimes goes into counterpoint mode, and very good guitars: clear,
ringing arpeggiated parts; throaty, distorted riffs; and clear leads. I
can't really detect one main influence (except for Iced Earth, of course!),
but I definitely hear a strong affinity for a Ritchie Blackmore/Highway
Star kind of arpeggiated guitar solos (check the opening track, Spiritual
Creator; also Flock, and the closing instrumental track, Ahoora). Beyond
The Reasonable Doubt Of A Lunatic has some dark riffs à la Black Sabbath,
but also (starting from about 7'44") an accelerating movement that's
quite peculiar of Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser (it could be just a coincidence,
though). At about 3'10", The Child Of Volcano has a melodic variation
featuring an acoustic guitar that reminded me of Hawkwind, circa Levitation,
or even (gasp!) Pink Floyd; as in other tracks on the album, here we have
two nicely harmonized guitar leads.
Though
obviously recorded in a low budget mode, the album manages to communicate
quite well its (mostly tense - check the lyrics) musical moods (think:
High Tide's first album). The arrangements are quite complex, the musicians
obviously know each other well, the material was properly rehearsed. I
strongly suggest readers to do a Web search and start from there.
Beppe
Colli
©
Beppe Colli 2007
CloudsandClocks.net | Jan.
22, 2007
