Achelas is the project of Moroccan artist Achraf El Asraoui, whom we have already met as a composer and full time band member in Nine Skies. The sonorities are Progressive Rock, with tempo changes and elaborate passages combined with more Symphonic ones. The new album “Echoes Of Virtue” was released on August 31, 2024 and contains eight medium-length tracks. The opener “Dialogue 33” is a brave 1:42 minute intro, which immediately shows the artist’s modern Prog Rock imprint and takes us towards the album’s listening. Linking up with the previous track “Veils Of Unseen Realities,” it is a solid and elaborate track, which immediately catches on by alternating softer vocal parts and more intricate instrumental sections. Modern sounds permeate the track, with heavy guitar inserts, a solid and elaborate rhythm section, and plenty of tempo changes to develop a prog theme with sophisticated ideas. Accelerations take the sound into more Heavy Prog territory, with the more melodic vocals acting as a counterbalance. Interesting guitar solos in the instrumental seations. Dreamy piano melodies open “Echoes Across the Cosmos,” the longest track on the album, exceeding seven minutes in length. The vocals are warm and expressive and add pathos to the melancholic sound, characterising the track’s dense and deep atmospheres. A good vocal test that enhances the characteristics, as well as the intense instrumental part with emotional and refined keyboard and guitar textures. “Celectial Paradox” features guitar arpeggios and effects in the background with an intense and expressive vocal. Arabian influences can be heard and enrich the sound, which is intense and introspective and softens the tone with acoustic sounds. African music and Reggae blend with more Rock sounds in “Dazt Laawam,” a track that shows a more Progressive side in the second half. Percussion and World Music add stylistic solutions to the sound of this original track, which switches from one genre to another thanks to the tempo changes. An intro with guitar arpeggios and orchestrations in the background characterises “Lies In Their Eyes Ft Philipp Dauenhauer.” The vocals are warm and expressive, interpreting the lyrics with pathos. The intensity increases with the flow of the song, which in the second part incorporates the rhythm section and develops an extended rhythm section with the guitar as the protagonist. “Echoes Of The Unseen” is another mixture of vocals contaminated by World Music and a sound that is at times Prog. After a largely sung first part, in the finale the artist explores more Heavy sounds for a good stretch, concluding with guitar arpeggios. The album ends with ‘Honest Dream,’ an outro characterised by guitar arpeggios enriched by effects and a keyboard background creating an atmospheric sound that takes us to the finale. A multi-faceted album, in my opinion the first part is more progressive and incisive, with more involving tracks with a good mixture of instrumental singing parts. As the tracklist progresses, the sound incorporates elements of African music, exploring different musical nuances. Overall, the listening is smooth, with the more Progressive passages and tracks in my opinion more incisive and interesting than the others.
Tracklist
01. Dialogue 33 (01:42)
02. Veils Of Unseen Realities (04:14)
03. Echoes Across the Cosmos (07:08)
04. Celectial Paradox (03:18)
05. Dazt Laawam (06:36)
06. Lies In Their Eyes Ft Philipp Dauenhauer (04:17)
07. Echoes Of The Unseen (06:51)
08. Honest Dream (03:08)
Lineup
Achraf El Asraoui
Mouad Azizi
With:
Philipp Dauenhauer (Track 6)