Iceberg - 1975 - Tutankhamon

Iceberg

1975

Tutankhamon

01. Tebas (1:16)
02. Prologo (3:08)
03. Sacerdotes de Amon (2:53)
04. Amarna (2:56)
05. Lying on the sand (5:27)
06. Amenofis IV (3:05)
07. Himno al sol (4:35)
08. La muerte (4:19)
09. Close to God (4:08)
10. Too young to be a Pharaoh (3:35)
11. Tebas (reprise) (1:49)

Ángel Riba / vocals, saxophone
Joaquín "Max" Sunyer / electric guitar
José "Kitflus" Mas / electric piano, organ, synthesizers, Mellotron
Primitivo Sancho / bass
Jordi Colomer / drums

Iceberg is one of my favorite spanish bands, and this album is just great. If you like fusion, symphonic prog, concept albums and most importantly Yes, you will love it. The only complaint that I have is that the lyrics are in both english and spanish, which is a little bit anoying (at least for me)... but musically it is a very well composed and performed album.

The album presents a band starting to experiment with various influences and the concept album format. So what you get is sort of a mix between Yes and John McLaughlin. Although not very original, this is the band's first step in their search for their own sound: flamenco jazz-rock/fusion, which they will finally develop in Coses Nostres.

The storyline and lyrics of the album are centered around the historical moment and life of the Egyptian  pharaoh Tutankhamen. The story is very accurate from the historic point of view and the lyrics are beautiful and well written (both in Spanish and English)

The album starts with Tebas a great introduction to the album showcasing a symphonic sound close to Yes', specially the guitar. The lyrics start with Prologo (prologue), in Spanish, introducing the historic and social context of Egypt before Tutankhamen in a very effective and accurate way (+ the singer is very talented and pleasant), while musically the highlights are the guitar (very similar to Steve Howe), the jazzy keyboards and the percussions. 

Sacerdotes de Amon continues with the same mood of the first tracks while continues with the storyline. 

Amarna is a more eclectic instrumental track still led by the guitar but with outstanding percussions and a pleasant atmosphere generated by the mellotron. 

Lying on the Sand is the first track with English lyrics and not completely dominated by the guitar, so we have a chance to admire the great work of the keyboardist with the mellotron, piano and, specially, the Rhodes with a great jazzy solo. Added to that we can still appreciate the talents of the guitarist, percussionist and singer, although the last one has a bit of an accent which is passable. 

Amenofis IV is an instrumental fusion jam and a team work, in contrast with the previous guitar dominated tracks. Every musician shows his talent and how well the band can work together. 

Himno al Sol is a very jazzy song while being at the same time symphonic in the style of Yes' Relayer and the lyrics are in Spanish again. One thing that bothers me is the obvious Yes ripoff by quoting a guitar riff from Siberian Khatru several times. 

La Muerte is a great jazzy/symphonic instrumental track featuring an amazing (and a bit too long) drum solo. 

Close to God is a quieter track with more English lyrics, very close to a ballad with a jazzy instrumental background (it remembers me some Colosseum II tracks). 

Too Young to be a Pharaoh is the "heaviest" track of the album with some more guitar soloing ala Howe and very dynamic vocals (in English). Another highlight of the song is the drumming (Jordi Colomer is definitively very talented). 

Tebas (reprise) is the best way of closing a concept album, quoting some of the themes of the previous tracks and closing magnificently with a guitar solo. 

This is sort of a Yes clone album with jazzy overtones but the band will later evolve in their own particular style, which will prove to be very original and not really close to Yes' sound (more in a flamenco/jazz-rock direction...something noticeable in some sections of Tutankhamon).

I really recommend this album to those who search for that feeling of really authentic prog rock which can only (or mostly) be found in the 70's. This is the debut album by this spanish band and their most symphonic-rock one, with emphasis on "rock". After Tutankhamon they would loose singer Angel Riba and their music became instrumental and more fusion oriented (still great btw).

Rock came late in Spain due to the dictatorship of general Franco, and therefore this album although dating from '75 sounds in many ways as earlier records from the UK (american rock was not much influential in Spain at that time). As with many 70's records what is lovely here is the sense of authenticity. It was still too early to talk about influences, genres, clones and things like that, as we excessively do today. The guys simply did what felt right to them at the time, and there and then this happened to be simply wonderful music.

The core of Iceberg were keyboardist Josep "Kitflus" Mas and guitarist Max Sunye, both coming from a jazz environment, but the times were prone for symphonic rock and they embraced the genre eagerly, resulting in a delighful album which blens symphonic, jazz- fusion, still a few atmospheric psychedelic traces and pure 70's rock. This is not symphonic similar to the big ones Genesis, Yes, ELP, Floyd etc.This is authentically personal music, not trying to copy anybody. No long suites, no excessive focus on virtuosity, no bombastic feeling, just simply great music.

It's a concept album about the famous pharaoh although it does not tell a specific storyline but just assorted themes around his figure. It's sung half in spanish half in english and unfortunately the voice is not the strong point, but the composition and instrumental work more than compensate for it.

The starter "Tebas" is a great short instrumental overture, reminds me somehow of the wonderful debut album of Ted Rundgren's Utopia. "Prologo" has a delightful 5/4 jazzy time signature and much wah-wah guitar, very 70's. "Sacerdotes de Amon" starts with a hard guitar riff but soon shifts to more atmospheric moods. "Amarna" is an instrumental delight of that sort you think that it could only be made in the 70's. "Lying on the sand" is a great slow-mid tempo song again mixing rock with jazzy elements. "Amenofis IV" is instrumental, again a beautiful sample of what the unadelturated mood of the times could produce. "Himno al Sol" has a great 7/4 ? 3/4 rhythm. "La muerte" contains a drum solo as was the fashion in those times, although not too long and not by any means the best in the song, the short fragments where all the instruments play are awesome. "Close to God" is a more pop song, very melodic with great Rhodes piano and wah-wah guitar. If only all pop songs were like this. "Too young to be a pharaoh" is hard-rock-prog at its best, and the reprise of the opening "Tebas" puts the symphonic cherry on the cake.

Again, this is not Genesis, Yes, ELP or PFM. This is more jazz-rock-oriented prog, the voice is not great and the production is improvable by today's standards, but this is really wonderful authentic music very worth knowing about for a prog fan.

Iceberg's Tutankhamon is an enjoyable listen that is both truly unique while sometimes also falling into some of the same problems I've encountered with other foreign prog. The main sound here is jazzy symphonic prog and for most of the album the band is engrossed in trying to balance their jazzier improvisational tendencies with a more melodic and straight forward symphonic prog palette. This is where the album falls apart at times for me, when they try and embrace the jazz-rock side of things they meander along with no clear compositional theme but when there are clearly defined melodies they shine. Other than this gripe, the album was quite pleasant: vocals were competent and performances were fairly tight.