Stéphane Gallay
Dans le rock progressif contemporain, Gazpacho est un groupe qui assume une identité qui, sans être très originale, se démarque suffisamment pour attirer l’attention. On pourrait leur reprocher, une fois de plus, une absence de surprise, mais ce serait cracher dans la soupe. (Chroniqué sur alias.erdorin.org)Favorite track: Sapien.
Zacharias Kraus
A very strong contender for my personal album of the year. Every time the choir in Space Cowboy hits I get goosebumps.
Favorite track: Space Cowboy.
Alice M.
It can get weird at times, and I even thought for a little while that I wouldn’t like this record, but if you can accept (and understand somewhat) the stranger parts, this stuff is very rewarding and soothing.
jensbonn
Another extraordinary Gazpacho album! Thanks friends - I hope to see you in Cologne, Bochum or so before too long!!!
Favorite track: Hourglass.
GAZPACHO, THE KINGS OF ATMOSPHERIC AND AFFECTIVE ROCK RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM FIREWORKER DUE FOR RELEASE ON KSCOPE ON 18TH SEPTEMBER
For nearly twenty years, Gazpacho have reigned as the kings of atmospheric and affective art rock. Their latest observation, Fireworker, is no exception. In fact, it’s undoubtedly among their greatest achievements, as well as one of the most profound pieces of music you’ll hear in 2020. Gazpacho’s career has been full of great performances and glowing praise, they’ve played festivals such as Be Prog! My Friend, Night of the Prog, Midsummer Prog Festival, and Cruise to the Edge, where they delighted audiences alongside exceptional brethren like iamthemorning, Anathema, Pain of Salvation, Caligula’s Horse, Riverside, The Neal Morse Band, and Steve Hackett.
Conceptually, the album follows the band’s tradition of blending grand philosophical quandaries, stimulating literary leanings, and haunting personal turmoil. In a way, it acts as the culmination of the themes and techniques that’ve decorated earlier collections, combining the fatalistic isolation of Night and Missa Atropos; the ill-fated narrative drama of Tick Tock and Soyuz; and the hefty theological/scientific contemplations of Demon and Molok. Beyond that, its central premise (that humanity has always been controlled by an infallible and omniscient creature determined to propagate at any cost) means that Fireworker comes across like the overarching umbrella under which all of its predecessors occur.
Keyboardist Thomas Andersen elucidates: “There’s an instinctual part of you that lives inside your mind, separate from your consciousness. I call it the ‘Fireworker’ or the ‘Lizard’ or the ‘Space Cowboy.’ It’s an eternal and unbroken lifeforce that’s survived every generation, with a new version in each of us"
Gazpacho are planning to play the album in its entirety via a livestream this summer, alongside a Q&A about the concept and a few oldies. In the meantime, they suggest, you should internalise the record as much as possible in order to eventually “research your own ‘Space Cowboy.’”
Created in May 2008 to provide a home for the growing post-progressive genre and an evolving, flexible and adventurous style of music without boundaries.
This might be the least folky of the Wobbler releases and I wasn't sure about it at all.
After a few listens however I'm loving the inventiveness and the endless melodies, all driven along by Kristian Hultgren's wonderful percussive bass. PartTimeZombie
The album takes off nicely with David Longdon's "The Strangest Times", but then gets into immediate free fall and deeply underwater for the next few tracks, quite unexpectedly. Fortunately, it recovers with Nick D'Virgilio's "Apollo" (hey, this guy CAN write good music, although he hides this ability most of the time) and the remaining three tracks, one of which is another Longdon masterpiece. So in the end the final impression is somewhat in the positive range. Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022
Sustained by seismic psych riffs, proggy shifts, and vivid sci-fi storytelling, these Milwaukee cosmonauts command respect. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 29, 2023
What can I say about Big Big Train that I haven’t said before?
This album took a little while to grow on me but by the time I saw it live I was in love with its humongous, over-egged pomposity! They do it all with such passion, excitement and amazing musicianship.
Essential. Crinklechips