Pacha & Pörsti – Views From the Inner World (Seacrest Oy, 2022)
“Views From the Inner World” brings together two talented progressive rock musicians and composers, multi-instrumentalist Rafael Pacha (Spain) and drummer and multi-instrumentalist Kimmo Pörsti (Finland). The two artists have collaborated in the past as part of the Samurais of Prog and other memorable projects.
The collaboration is a concept album about the visions that arise when you close your eyes or think. These are sometimes reflections of the great doubts of the human condition. Musically, “Views From the Inner World” presents fantastic instrumental work that incorporates state of the art symphonic progressive rock inspired by Genesis and other great classics as well as Celtic folk music and Andalusian rock (a mix of progressive rock, flamenco and southern Spanish music).
Virtuoso musician Rafael Pacha uses a wide selection of electric and acoustic instruments, ranging from acoustic and electric guitars to mandolin, tin whistle, electric violin and more exotic instruments like viola da gamba and the ancient Greek lyra.
The first three tracks on “Views From the Inner World” are solidly in the symphonic rock field. Track four, “Under a Cludless Sky,” skillfully adds folk music components, intertwining traditional music elements and Camel-style electric progrock elements.
On track 5, “Matkakuume,” the duo returns to engaging high energy progressive rock featuring notable synth and guitar lines.
The next piece is “Leap in the Dark” where the listener gets treated to an Early Music intro that leads into the gorgeous and versatile vocals of Spain-based Cuban singer Ariane Valdivié. This song has a progressive folk-rock feel, straddling the line between progrock and electric folk.
Next, Pacha & Pörsti calm things down with the delightful acoustic guitar, electric piano and bass slow tempo piece “Shadows of Lost Memories.”
On the spectacular suite “The Man Who Walked Home,” the group adds Andalusian melodies initially with Marek Arnold on the saxophone and later with a spectacular solo by Spanish guitar wizard Rubén Alvarez and an Andalusian rock-style synth solo by Pacha. Interestingly, even though this piece has a deep Spanish flavor and seems influenced by Iman, Triana and Guadalquivir, it was composed by Pörsti.
The instrumental track “Ventolera” takes the music back to the opening theme and demonstrates Pacha’s impressive work as a multi-instrumentalist, delivering exquisite Steve Hackett-style guitar work and equally good Tony Banks-influenced synth melodies. Notably, “Ventolera” gradually grows into a deeply satisfying epic work.
The album concludes with “Alone Against Tomorrow,” a beautiful anthemic song with pastoral essence and early King Crimson vibes, featuring flute and lead vocals by Ariane Valdivié.
The lineup includes Kimmo Pörsti on drums, percussion, keyboards; and Rafael Pacha on electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, lyra, mandolin, viola da gamba, electric violin, low & high whistles, melodica, zither, recorders and percussion.
Guests: Rubén Álvarez on electric guitar; Marek Arnold on soprano saxophone; Olli Jaakkola on flute, soprano saxophone; Marco Bernard on bass; Jan-Olof Strandberg on bass; Ariane Valdivié on vocals; and John Wilkinson on vocals.
As usual, the Seacrest label packages its recordings with stunning artwork and detailed credits.
Buy the album from www.seacrestoy.com