After Crying - De Profundis (1996)

Artista: After Crying

Álbum: De Profundis
Año: 1996
Género: Rock sinfónico ecléctico
Duración: 74:12
Nacionalidad: Hungría

Lista de Temas:
1. Bevezetes
2. Modern Idök
3. Az Üstökös
4. Stalker
5. Stonehenge
6. Külvarosi Ej
7. Manok Tanca
8. Kifulladasig
9. De Profundis
a) Eras...
b) Non est via
c) "Jecisti me in profund..."
d) Ego sum via, veritas et via
10. Jonas Imaja
11. Elveszett Varos
12. Kisvasut
13. Esküszegök
14. 40 Masodperc
15. A Vilag Vegen

Alineación:
- Gabor Egervari / flute, voice
- Lazlo Gacs / drums, percussion
- Tamas Gorgenyi / lead vocals
- Peter Pejtsik / bass, cello, lead vocals, vocals
- Ferenc Torma / guitars, synthesizer, vocals
- Balazs Winkler / keyboards, trumpet

Como habrán visto, esta banda me resulta deliciosa, y por mucho motivos, acá vamos con otro discazo, profundo, emocional, complejísimo pero no enredado, de los enormes húngaros que trae nuevamente el Mago Alberto. En 1994, After Crying se queda huerfana, Csaba Vedres uno de sus pilares fundamentales abandona la banda dejando sumergida en un incierto futuro a la banda húngara. Los músicos se ponen a componer y sacan el impresionante "De Profundis" que hizo mella dentro de los círculos progresivos. La obra se convirtió en una referencia obligada de After Crying, un disco muy variado, sus intrínsicas composiciones crimsonianas mezcladas con la musica clásica a lo ELP, progresivo moderno, música de cámara, solos, sonatas y minimalismo en un paquete exótico, encantador para el que busca música avanzada de pretensiones cultas pero sin dejar de lado lo popular, y eso hacen de su sonido algo único y espectacular.
Vamos al comentario del Mago que es lo que vale, veamos que nos dice:

Cuarto disco de After Crying, hubiera preferido postear cronológicamente los discos de esta estupenda banda húngara pero algunos archivos están en mp3. Este trabajo nos muestra a una banda mas experimental con un marcado acento clásico, quizás también por la gran cantidad de músicos invitados especialmente en cuerdas, un proyecto ambicioso que no les queda para nada grande, los AC, como mencioné en el primer post se destacan por su buen gusto y esta vez cada track nos muestra un vuelco hacia terrenos grandilocuentes, atemporales, díscolos, pero siempre manteniendo el formato canción, las voces son otro aspecto destacado de este proyecto, el timbre femenino les da un matiz distinto y no desentona para nada con el impresionante despligue de las cuerdas.
Los AC direccionan su musica con una marcada tendencia hacia la asimetria musical en cada uno de sus proyectos, cosa que se potencia por el uso de violines, cellos, oboes y caños diversos, cabe señalar el origen básicamente académico de sus integrantes, que se despegan todo el tiempo de esa estructura precisamente para desestructurala, unos rebeldes innovadores que juegan todo el tiempo con matices y arreglos plagados de buen gusto.
Este trabajo es muchísimo mas complejo que "Overground Music", transitan un terreno mas de vanguardia, mas técnico, coqueteando casi con el mas retorcido Avant Garde o el R.I.O., el piano es sencillamente sublime, donde cada patrón rítmico lo emparenta con el mas encumbrado Wakeman o Emerson. El sentido estético de las cuerdas hacen que este trabajo mas allá de potentísimas murallas sonoras se disfrute por su ensamble, por su personalísima paleta de arreglos, todos estos elementos van dándole forma al estilo de estos húngaros, quizás el trabajo que mejor los pinta es el doble en vivo, que voy a hacer todo lo posible para acercarselo al Vampiro, ya que es una obra maestra del progresivo mundial. Lo bueno de AC es su versatilidad en cada uno de sus discos, cosa que trataremos de ofrecerles en cómodas cuotas.
Hungría presente en Argentina a traves de After Crying, otra banda que dejará su huella en el blog cabezón, así que dele al mouse, su oído se lo agradecerá.

Alberto

Dichas estas maravillosas palabras de presentación que no le quedan para nada grandes a un disco tremendo, con su sorprendente virtuosismo y a sus composiciones arriesgadas y desbordantes.... veamos otros comentarios a ver que nos dicen:

1994 fue el año en el que AFTER CRYING (AC) vivió un cambio significativo en su historia; Csaba VEDRES decidió encausar su esfuerzo hacia representaciones como solista, dejando vacante su lugar en los teclados. El hecho afectó anímicamente al grupo, parecía obvio que la banda se desintegraría, pero después de dos años AC revivió con una propuesta que resultó determinante para la nueva alineación: "De Profundis", álbum que salió al mercado en 1996 y que reflejó un gran éxito cuando se presentó en el Festival Húngaro de Rock Progresivo, compartiendo escena con Peter HAMMILL. "De Profundis" fue proclamado como el álbum del mes en Italia y en agosto de 1997 tuvo una representación memorable en Budapest, donde además del álbum, interpretaron 'Starless' junto a John WETTON, mano a mano en el Festival del Fin del Este. De igual forma, AC fue la gran sorpresa en el Baja Prog en Mexicali en marzo del '99.
Aunque AC no se consideran "progresivos", admiten su similitud con bandas como ELP, KING CRIMSON y YES. Y al no querer encasillarse en un término tan concreto ahora, se reconocen también como un grupo de rock contemporáneo, cuya música contiene virtuosismo, ritmos intrincados, sofisticados cambios de intención, intervenciones solistas, y un sonido fantástico, porque ellos progresan en eso, sin una síntesis integral que encuadre una corriente principal.
Con esta idea, AFTER CRYING creó un concepto maravilloso con este disco. Uno que contiene además de lo que buscan, elementos sinfónicos, melódicos, ásperos, rítmicos y a veces desconcertante, vocalizaciones con estructuras rap. Pero no es para asustarse y mucho menos para predisponerse, pues con la integración de tanto elemento musical, el resultado va más lejos que de un disco cuya orientación sea específica. No se trata de un disco pop, no se trata de una obra clásica tampoco, ni de un extraordinario disco de rock progresivo. Se trata de una obra compleja, inteligente, entonces pensada, planeada, cuyo contenido te recorre desde un lado comercial, hasta la dificultad de una cultura contemporánea.
"De Profundis" es un concepto tan maravillosamente diferente a lo tradicional, que al escucharlo por tercera vez se convirtió en uno de mis 100 discos favoritos. Trata de no perdértelo.

Alfredo Tapia-Carreto

A esta altura y con todos estos comentarios ya te imaginarás que esta obra es excepcional, con temas como "De Profundis" que está dividido en 4 actos con un magnífico y largo desarrollo instrumental de tono pomposo, enérgico, épico y clásico. Pero todo el disco es un compendio experimental de cómo lo clásico y lo moderno se unen en una perfecta simbiosis progresiva, y donde tampoco falta un tema como "Manok Tanca" donde también hay lugar para tonos alegres y folcklóricos. Un lujo para el oído.
Pero si no estás convencido te dejo otros comentarios, ahora en inglés:

A conceptual piece on the history of music, De Profundis finds After Crying, with the help of additional musicians, performing everything from plainchant to folk music, baroque to romantic styles of classical music, before ending the album with jazz and rock pieces. While none of the material could be mistaken for an original work in its particular style, the music here is both fascinating and beautiful. In some ways it is comparable to the more classically-oriented film scores, which often mimic various styles of classical music with modern touches. After Crying's classical training means the group does not come off as pretentious; they know what they are doing and have arranged most of the album to be performed as an ensemble instead of focusing on one instrument at a time, the way rock music is often done. Although the jazz and rock numbers find the group sounding awkward in their attempts to sound funky and loose, the addition of the odd spacey keyboard here and there on the more classically-styled tracks imaginatively augments those pieces. Although the lyrics are in Hungarian, most of the album is instrumental.

Geoff Orens

The main theme De Profundis is one of the best progressive songs in '90s. Here the band put the best, but the whole album is extremely interesting. Listener will find chamber music mixtured with some KING CRIMSON atmospheres, experimental tunes and beautiful landscapes, eventually close to jazz or classical or folk music (in "De Profundis" track, I can hear also some influences from PIAZZOLA's modern tango!). The final piece, the short "A Vilag Vegen" (female incredibly sweet voice), close the stuff with an unusual beauty. This is, maybe, AFTER CRYING most complex work, and one of their best. Another very good album.

Marcelo

Although I have not heard everything from them ( and neither do i wish to ) I think and have been told by friends too that this is their better works . Well OK now , but then this is not bad at all but definitely is over-rated and when I saw the band on stage I was confirmed by what I saw and heard . Very talented classily trained musician like there must be a ton in place like Hungary and Austria who try to make a living by playing rock and do a correct job but really, Do they have anything original to say?

Sean Trane

Wonderfull stuff, even though a few defects could make it deserve an inferior score,by erasing an half star at least. In fact this is the best example of chamber progressive rock with dark moods, for this album expanding the music ideas of "Overground music" in a fantastic way...nevertheless, as I like to be honest,in my opinion the Hungarian vocals sometimes are boring, despite of recognizing such an elegant kind of tribute to "Island" by King Crimson, along with a sense of incompleteness, which begins emerging, but anyway in a very few circumstances only...their best moments are unforgettable, also during their stunning executions live, and to me that's enough to make it a recommended album in every prog collection!!

Lorenzo

Despite its title, this fourth release by AFTER CRYING is anything but depressing. The music is at times mellow (almost chamber like), at other times wild and crazy. To give you an idea as to what they sound like, think folk, classical, jazz and a heavy dose of KING CRIMSON + ELP all mixed together.
The album starts off with some haunting Gregorian chant and heavy-bass church organ (very spooky stuff), then hops off into a multitude of genres. The track which I find stands out is the 12-minute epic "Stalker"; it somehow makes you feel as if you're watching a Hitchcock movie... It builds up ever so slowly, explodes into musical fireworks and ends eerily, with the rythmic/hypnotic sound of a passing train and its wheels (ka-clunck, ka-clunck) trailing off into the night. The whole album is a dazzling musical merry-go-round and ends with an unexpected but most charming Hungarian folk song, beautifully rendered by a female vocalist.
Although we often use the word 'classical' to describe AFTER CRYING's musical influence, it rocks high and mighty and you can trust me on this: you don't have to be a classics afficionado to enjoy it.

Lise Hibou

This is not my favorite After Crying album. It is one of the first I ever heard, and at the time the majesty of its chamber and choral vocals; orchestral arrangements; and really even the meaty heft of the packaging marked this as something special. But then I discovered the band’s back catalog and quickly learned that this offering pales in comparison to ‘Overground Music’ and especially ‘Megalázottak és Megszomorítottak’. Its still an outstanding album, just not up to the very high standard set by the first two records these guys put out.
A few adjustments from the ‘Overground Music’ debut are clearly apparent and welcome. The heavy-tongued vocals have been toned down a bit and lead vocalist Tamas Gorgenyi even manages to sound melodic on occasion. There is also an expanded emphasis on accompanying vocals from other band members, as well as female and choral backing. Someone has clearly explained to the band that this was their most obvious weakness on the first few albums. Another direction they could have gone was toward more instrumental music and moved away from vocals altogether, but this works as well.
The other change is with the guitar, played by Torma Ferenc. The guitar was introduced in the band’s third album and plays a more prominent role here. The result is that the music tends to sounds a bit less like a chamber recital and more like something that was done in a recording studio and not a concert hall. That’s okay I guess, but there’s something about the first couple albums that makes me imagine dusty backstage halls and a heavy red curtain and polished brass handrails as the audience moves quietly to their pre-assigned seats for the performance. That’s kind of lost here, and After Crying become more of an experimental/post-rock sounding band that just happens to have some serious musical credentials and high quality chops. It’s a nuance, but an important one for me.
A few tracks stand out from the pack. “Stalker” features guitar prominently and is one of (if not the) heaviest works the band has done to-date. “Stonehenge” features an almost orgasmic angular and captivating cello solo that is unlike anything you’ll find anywhere else in progressive music – a definite must-hear if you are interested in this band at all.
“Esküszegõk” is a really interesting arrangement because it has the basic type of repetitive progression pattern that so many post-rock and math bands have made their careers on; but the buildup to the climax is so subtle and complex that it takes a number of replays before you realize that is what’s going on. This may in fact be the strongest track on the album from a purely musical standpoint.
Then among the various short vignettes that are beautiful but not particularly memorable, comes the title track. I have to say that I was a little disappointed hearing this one. Granted, the bar for these guys is extremely high because they are capable of such great music. But this composition relies too heavily on vocals in the beginning and ends up sounding more like something Andrew Lloyd Webber would have written. In the middle the vocals disappear, but the featured flute does do enough to hold the passage for the strings. I wonder if the flute could have played behind the strings instead of being showcased, and the whole "Jecisti me in profund..." would have been a lot stronger. I’m not a musician, but this seems like an idea that would have been worth exploring. And the vocals come back at the end but they’re in Hungarian so the power the closing could have had is lessened somewhat for many listeners.
I love this band, and haven’t heard anything from them yet that isn’t as good as or better than just about any other progressive music being made today. But this isn’t as strong as some of their other albums, and as such probably only merits three stars. If these guys were most bands this would be their pinnacle. But After Crying are not most bands. Well recommended, but if you can only buy one After Crying album don’t make it this one.

Bob Moore

AFTER CRYING's de Profundis is a monumental work of art. With it's small pieces intended to display the skill and artistry of its individual members, I am reminded of YES's Fragile. Yet, as so many reviewers have noted, there are definite signs of the influence of Robert Fripp and Keith Emerson. Most predominant, however, are the deep and rich traditions of Hungarian classical and folk music. As with many "Eastern European" music traditions, we "Westerners" sometimes have some difficulty hearing the 'beauty' or getting used to the 'melodies' of these musics. That is why repeated listening, attentive headphone listening, and background listening are all important--to, if you will, immerse oneself or imbue oneself in these sounds and textures. Such has been the educative approach which has led to last night's 'breakthrough.' It all makes sense. It is truly beautiful, powerful, albeit, at times, complicated music. With two short songs being among the most hauntingly beautiful songs I've EVER heard, I knew I had to keep listening to the rest of this music. I now champion five songs from this album to be included among the pantheon of all-time 'classics.' The first is the first song on the album:
1. "Bevezetés." A female choir chanting angelically from within a chapel/cathedral setting over an organ. Beautiful arrangement. 10/10
2. "Modern Idök" is an orchestral behemoth with very theatric male voice singing in Hungarian. 8/10
3. "Az üstökös." A beautiful piano rondo. 9/10
4. "Stalker" is one of the album's two epics, clocking in at over 12 minutes. Beginning with a very ominous rolling bass line accompanied by sporadic percussion and percussive guitar playing and strings until 2:20 when brass and woodwinds join in. At 2:50 an electric guitar takes over, playing over a fairly standard rock beat & rhythm section until gradually joined by the brass playing a very PHILLIP GLASS-like rolling part. The 4:55 mark sees a winding down to a quiet section: bells, organ, light cymbol play, and spoken word carry on until at 6:55 when a flute takes over with an airy melody. Then, just as you're lulled to sleep, all hell breaks loose at the 7:55 mark. Very CRIMSON-esque "Red"-like until the 9:23 mark when it just as suddenly stops. Instead, a FRIPP-like guitar solo struggles within its sadness and melancholy while a distant organ and the sound of a train traveling on its tracks serves as its only background. Amazing song! 9/10
5. "Stonehenge" is a rather uninteresting cello solo not unlike some KRONOS QUARTET pieces. 6/10
6. "Külvárosi éj" is one of the most stunningly beautiful, creative instrumental pieces I've ever encountered. Floating, shifting electric guitar arpeggios over which build tympani, cello, and trumpet into a weave of such intricacy and majesty--?! 10/10
7. "Manók tánca" is a chamber music song built around a piano which later engages a drum kit. 8/10
8. "Kifulladásig" contains an electric guitar playing in a kind of STANLEY JORDAN meets NARCISO YPES style. Not unlike something ROBERT FRIPP would do. It does have a quite beautiful mid-section sounding more like BRUCE COCKBURN beginning at the 2:00 minute mark. 7/10
9. "De Profundis" is a four part epic of almost 12 minutes. The first part has a very medieval, chamber music feel--complete with minstrel-like vocals--while later adding piano. At the 5:00 minute mark, section b. slows down the piano, bassoon, flute, cello--having a very GENESIS feel to it. Section C presents a MIKE OLDFIELD sounding guitar solo until at 9:55 we have a return to the beginning format and vocal. Wonderful song! Very pastoral and accessible. 9/10
10. "Jónás imája" begins a series of short pieces with one longer piece (the 8 minute "Esküszegök") in the middle. Like "Fragile," these pieces seem to serve mostly to showcase the individual talents or experimental song structures of the group. This one contains a storytelling over electric bass harmonic arpeggios. 6/10
11. "Elveszett város" contains oboe playing over a chamber orchestra. 6/10
12. "Kisrasút" is a piano piece done in an almost DON PULLEN-plays-Ragtime fashion. 7/10
13. Esküszegök" Very CRIMSON-esque electric rock band until the third section when brass and woodwinds are added. 6/10
14. 40 masodperc" is 40 seconds of street noises and organ.
15. A világ végén" A female voice singing over SUPERTRAMP-like keyboard, joined later by bassoon, then flutes with synthesized strings, then oboe. 7/10
Giving this innovative and very progressive yet far-from-perfect album anything less than "Masterpiece" status is really difficult for me. Kind of like getting used to GENTLE GIANT: it requires persistence and appreciation for the mathematical possibility of musical dimensions. Yet, most everyone agrees on the genius and virtuosity of GG. Were the same numbers able (or willing) to access AFTER CRYING, there might be greater appreciation for them.

W. A. Fisher

In the catholic liturgy, "De Profundis" is a penitential psalm. Literally it means "From the deep" and is a lament which asks for God's mercy. This is different from any other album of this eclectic and skillful band. It's probably the darkest thing that they released.
"Bevezetes" (Introduction) is a chant in Gregorian style accompanied by an organ only. There's a mainstream band called "Enigma" that had a huge success in the 90s by adding disco rhythms to this kind of music. In this case, without disco contaminations, I think this is close to the compositions of Arvo Part. A very promising opener. Hallelujah!
"Modern Idök" (Modern Times) is orchestral and seems to be inspired by Aaron Copland, or to Keith Emerson who was inspired by Aaron Copland. Probably the second, as the vocalist, even if not comparable to Greg Lake for his voice sings on similar melodies. Who like "Piano Concerto #1" or ELP Works in general will like also this song. There's a spoken part in the middle. Unfortunately it's in hungarian so I have no idea of what it's about, but it sounds very nicely with the chaotic orchestra in the background only the names of a lot of big cities and words like "gangsters" and "telephones" are intelligible for me.
"Az Üstökös" (The Comet) is a short piano solo. A very nice one that's clearly influenced by Emerson in the "idea", but not too much in the composition and in the execution.
"Stalker" is the first real highlight. A dark track that fits well in the definition. if one exist, of progressive. Bass and percussion in the foreground and keyboards in the background fill the first two minutes of this long track. Then the orchestral instruments (brasses and strings) make it even darker until the electric guitar finally launches the main theme. Uptime, with odd signatures it proceeds in crescendo, then stops and restarts. The structure is symphonic, let's call it a short symphony. Extremely dark, specially when deadly bells are left alone with the organ to give room to the speaker again. After the spoken part the bass restarts playing the initial theme but there's a lot of noise now. Electric guitar and orchestra follow the drums in a noisy crescendo that stops only with the rumor of a train. Then organ and guitar. I'd really like to know what the lyrics are about.
A cello opens "Stonehenge". Does anybody know Quintorigo? This is a piece on which the cello plays the role of bass and guitar at the same time. A virtuoso performance full of rock.
"Külvarosi Ej" (Night in the Suburbs) opens with tambourine and guitar which give accompaniment to the cello followed by the trumpet. The theme is very sad. Cello and trumpet make it even more sad and dark.
"Manok Tanca" (Dance of the gnomes) has the cello in evidence as on Stonehenge, but this time piano and bass make it a bit lighter with some relations to Emerson while a madrigal/medieval influence can be identified as well. In the middle part it becomes uptime and reminds to Gershwin.
Rain and guitar open "Kifulladasig" (Breathless). The guitar solo is incredible. It's of the kind that one has to concentrate on in order to realize that he's listening to only one guitar. Amazing.
The title track is the closest to the usual After Crying's music, I think to Overnight Music, even proceeding on the dark athmospheres of the album. The piano here sounds more like Wakeman than Emerson. The vocals are more melodic and soft. I don't think it's the same singer of the second track. If I'm wrong he has a very eclectic voice. Symphonic proggers, this is for you! After five minutes the vocals stop and what follows is an instrumental of a kind that I didn't hear since the times of The Snow Goose (the B side).
"Jonas Imaja" (Jonas Prayer) starts with guitar harmonics. The speaker is back. It's maybe the prayer of the title, however the music behind is soft and dreamy but dark at the same time. It gives me the sensation of the instants before falling asleep.
There is continuty between this track and "Elveszett Varos" (Lost City), at least in the mood.
" Kisvasut " (Light Railway) is totally different instead. It's a piano solo that doesn't pay tributes to Emerson or Wakeman or any other famous one. It's just a great short composition of a very skilled pianist with some contacts with Gershwin.
" Esküszegök" (Perjurer) is more close to ELP but it's full of eclectism. Dark and symphonic with connection to the Russian composers of the 19th century in some parts until it becomes jazzy thanks to the bass and an incredible electric guitar which plays 64th until it's replaced by the keyboard so a guitar riff can take place, then it returns to be symphonic and orchestral. The Lake-like vocals are an excellent closure of this quite epic track.
The following track, "40 Masodperc" means 40 seconds, that's exactly its duration. Just noises (a highway? a train?) closed by an organ chord.
Immediately after, the girl who sings on the first track sings one of the most melodic and less dark songs of the album, unfortunately the last one. "A Vilag Vegen" means "At The End of the World" and it's a great closer.
There are very good tracks that taken alone are excellent but none is a masterpiece. The album can be considered a masterpiece in its entirety as a single thing, instead. I am tempted to give it the maximum rating but I think that it's honestly suitable for 4.

Luca

Every album of that band is such a masterpiece. Every album sounds so diferent and unique, so delicately composed and arranged... I have no words to describe it.
After Crying fourth studio production is a kind of religious conceptual album. The journey begins with Bevezetes a quiet church chorus as an intro to Modern Idök that moves between a heavy and classical orchestral almost prog song and a kind of social "rap" a sotto voce. After a brief pause -Az Üstökös- begins maybe the most great song of the album, the awsome Stalker, probably a homage to russian filmmaker Anderi Tarkovsky if I compare the end of the song with the self title movie. Stonehenge is an awsome piece for violin and cello and the sober. Another highlight of this album is precisely the delicate De Profundis. Tamas Gorgenyi's voice sounds great in between awsome arrangements for flute and piano. Definetively a GREAT song.
Esküszegök and the nostalgic A Vilag Vegen -song that close the album- are another highlights of this beautiful release maybe one of the best of this hungarian band that breaks the models of the prog music during the 90's
4.8/5 Highly recommended to any prog fan!!

Ivan Avila

Hungarian band FTER CRYING is one of the better bands in the last twenty years. They are classically trained musicians playing mostly chamber orck and symphonic rock. Their influences are KING CRIMSON, ELP and FRANK ZAPPA. I hear also some others: AARON COPLAND, ASTOR PIAZZOLLA...
"De Profundis" is a very diverse album. This may distract some listeners but I find it interesting. Tracks vary in style: meditative chant, musical, classical orhestral, crimsonesque, solo instrumentals (piano, cello, guitar), a classically treated dance, recitation (I wish I could understand a word), modern chamber, soundtrack... The overall atmosphere is reminding me of KING CRIMSON going classical but there are also many brighter moments.
This music is definitely of high standard though sometimes sounding derivative. The singer is not very impressive. When are they going to get a decent vocalist? This is one of the most classical sounding albums in prog. This may not be everyones cup of tea. If someone finds it too academically complex I recommend to chek out their first album "Megalazottak es megszomoritott" instead. "De Profundis" is a masterpiece of prog, especially recommended for fans of classically tinged prog!

Matej

En definitiva, "De Profundis" es la conjucción perfecta de la música clásica y el rock progresivo, de lo acústico y lo eléctrico, una experiencia como mínimo imperdible. Otro gran disco super recomendado del blog cabezón!!!