Castanarc - The Sea Of Broken Vows CD
SKU
23-KHEPCD 06
“New studio album from a Melodic Symphonic Prog band that first emerged in the 80’s, and this delight tops off the string of back-catalogue albums that have been re-issued on CD in recent times.
Originating in the early 80’s, CASTANARC are an incredibly melodic U.K. based Symphonic Neo-Prog band that up until 2021, when their comeback album ‘Sea Of Broken Vows’ was released, had only made four other original albums in all that time, plus a compilation CD of rarities released in 2020.
Through the years they have stayed relatively obscure, yet remained consistently strong musically, delivering their own addictive take on mainstream modern Prog. Their sound is of a song-based nature, with their earlier years often described as containing glimpses of GENESIS and YES. They produce a more keyboard-oriented, less guitar-dominant sound than say MARILLION, tending to lean more towards the melodic keyboard sophistication of SAGA.
CASTANARC have also been compared quality-wise to fellow 80’s debutants such as PALLAS or PENDRAGON and their highly enjoyable debut album ‘Journey To The East’ is considered to be a bit real cult Prog classic! For the later releases you need to have to have an ear for a good hook, because like some others who arrived on the scene during the same time period, their music is perfect for fans who are up for blending a set of good strong songs with classy instrumental breaks, as opposed to those that deliver just total instrumental flamboyance."
“We started talking about it shortly after the release of ‘Water From The Well’ in February 2019 and sketched out some rough ideas. Recording began in earnest in November 2019 on the song ‘Lost Tears’. As a producer, I was very busy on other projects, so it was February 2020 before we had the main song structure finalised... and then we were locked down, so work had to continue remotely with production meetings few and far between. The lockdown did however mean that Holiday & Powell had time and energy to continue writing, whilst I organized the recording sessions for the other players, some of whom came to the studio and some who recorded their parts elsewhere then sent them to me. Not the ideal way to work but this record would never have been made without this approach.
As the lockdown eased I was able to work more closely with the band and particularly Mark Holiday to record his vocals. The end result is eleven brand new songs all bearing the unmistakeable hallmark of CASTANARC” – John Spence 2021
- LabelCastanarc
- UPC676307746530