Customer Reviews

Enchanted Spirits

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Agnus Dei. Sancta Maria. Spiritus Sanctus. Magna Canta (rough translation: "Great Songs") gives a trip-hop spin to old hymns in "Enchanted Spirits, in the manner of Enigma and similar bands. It doesn't add much to the actual songs except some beats, but it's an interesting listen.

It opens with the atmospheric "Aethera Et Terra," a wavering, sweeping song that is more electronica than Gregorian chant, although it has Latin singing (by both sexes) woven through it. The trend follows, although the electronic influences are a bit more toned down, in songs like "Hymn," the airy "Recordari," and the eerie, stately "Spiritus Sanctus."

Not that there aren't some missteps -- for example, there's a techno beat version of "Agnus Dei." You'll either love it, or be made dizzy by it. And "Offizium" and "Gregoria" are so heavy on the electronic dancebeats that it sounds like drunken monks going clubbing.

It's a fairly interesting listen, and it's definitely a sound you won't find on most Gregorian Chant CDs. The German band does a solid job of mixing electronica with Gregorian chants, much in the vein of the band Enigma. Magna Canta does, however, manage to sound earthier and darker than the earlier band, which is a good thing.

Most of the songs are fairly ordinary chants and songs, with electronic pop overlaid over them. The sharper, louder songs are overdone; the ones that are more ambient, soft and trippy suit the stately vocals better. And it makes the chants and hymns sound graceful, not like religious techno.

The Magna Canta Chorus offers both male and female vocals for the songs, though not really at the same time. Some songs open with male chanting, some with female. However, they're both rich vocals. Occasionally there's a spoken single vocalist, although it's a bit unsettling to hear, in a song called "Hymn," a oman murmuring, "Can't stop thinking 'bout you/something's touched me inside/pictures of a love I knew/can't forget the memories I shared with you." Not terribly hymnlike, but it's pretty in its own way.

In "Enchanted Spirits," Magna Canta strays too far into dancepop turf in some of these trip-hop chants, but the overall collection is a pleasing, pretty one.

First off, I haven't heard anything like this in a very long time. Although, you can hear a little mix of Enigma and Delerium on track 8, Magna Canta still has their originality. The chants are melodic masterpieces and do everything to make the listener competely satisfied. I highly recommend this cd to anyone who listens to Enigma, Delerium, Mythos, Amethystium and so on.

This CD is a very very soothing experience. Just to close
your eyes and listen to the great and sublime music is great.
Especially to reflect on your life with God.

A GREAT GREAT BUY !

From the first song on this record til the last one i found myself brought into a mystical world of moods and gregorian chants. I am always looking for new music that has a combination of the old styles mixed with the new styles in the new age and ambient genres and i think i may have found one of the newest new age and dance cd's on the market. I have not been able to stop listening to this cd. I highly recommend anyone that really loves groups like enigma, era and lesiem to pick this up.

Magna Canta - Enchanted Spirits is a fantastic gregorian chant album but one thing puzzles me. There's another album, available in Europe called "Gregorians: Sadness Chapter Part IV" and has a number of the same songs on it as the Enchanted Spirits CD. So, What's the group's real name? Magna Canta or Gregorians? If you try searching for "Sadness Chapter Part IV" you won't find it on the US or Canadian versions of Amazon as it is an import. Another thing to note is that the Gregorians disk has 17 songs and the Magna Canta disk has 12 songs. The songs that are the same on both disks are:
Hymn
Agnus Dei
Sancta Maria
Gregoria
Alleluia
As well as a few others that are slightly spelt differently.

Got this CD on an off-chance that it might be good and I was very surprised. It was not just good... but absolutely fantastic. I closed my eyes and found myself soaring away with the music. Only the best does that to me.

This is one of the best albums to come out in this genre. Every cut will blow you away. This is gregorain chant at its best...

Enchanted Spirits by Magna Canta features the pleasant combination of Gregorian chant with electronica and sensual grooves.

1. Aethera a El Terra - Chant melded with melodic, slow trance rhythms peppered with an awesome groove. Male and female choral chants are utterly glorious. (5 Stars)

2. Hymns - Smooth and lively, this track melds sounds of pipe organs with rhythmic beats. I'm not crazy about the female vocalist saying stuff like "You are far away but still so close. Why did you go?" Still, this is a gentle, soothing groove. (3 Stars)

3. Agnus Dei - Moderately paced electronica with male and female chants, some of this song seems repetitive, but still lovely. (4 Stars)

4. Cantandus - Stars off with a soaring female vocal chant then goes into an awesomely ethereal groove. Expansive and spacey, but grounded with softly insistent synths. (5 Stars)

5. Silentium - Male chorals with a foreboding, tentative beat. (The heavy breathing ala Darth Vader is a bit off putting to say the least!) Then, the tempo picks up with female chorals overlapping a danceable beat. The male chorals "answer"--and there's a nice change-up in rhythm towards the end. (4 Stars)

6. Recordare - This song also begins a bit ominously, but then switches to a happier melody with female and male chorals. Relaxing. (3 Stars)

7. Offizium - Epic sounding--I could heard this song as part of a space movie score. I like how it picks up the pace towards the end, finishing with lilting synths and piano. (3 Stars)

8. Ritmo - Begins with a glorious male chant. This song reminds me of Enigma. Very cool chill out with synth flutes and cascading keyboards. The male chant is the real star of this song. What ruins the song for me, though, is a man whispering "Be quiet--big boys don't cry". It seemed out of place to me. (3 Stars)

9. Gregoria - Rousing male choral with wild dance beat. In fact, the insistent beat is a bit TOO much, but the unusual jungle-like synth effects add interest. Midway, a very cool synth section reminds me a bit of Eiffel 65. (3 Stars)

10. Alleluia - Begins with some chant and flutes, but then some guy with an indecipherable accent begins too talk--sounding a lot like the boozy Captain Jack. The beat is so pronounced, it's almost headache inducing. It's certainly not a danceable tune even by trance standards, and the beat is enervating. (2 Stars)

11. Spiritus Sanctus - Brisk, ethereal tune that flows into an intriguing climax that breaks out into a poppy, upbeat celebration of what's highest and best in mankind. Lovely chorals--but by this point, the pounding beat has all but given me a headache. If they'd only toned down the heavy beats in the foreground and allowed the voices and high-end synths do all their glorious work! It would have made for a truly triumphant song. (3.5 Stars)

12. Sancta Maria - Sounds of surf and gently crashing waves that flow into a slow groove with a way-too-chipper fluttering of instruments. (3 Stars)

In conclusion, if the rest of the songs would have matched the caliber of the first song, this would have been an outstanding CD. However, some of the disparate elements make the CD never wracking by its end--rather than relaxing or pleasantly energizing.

In the spirit of Lesiem and the tradition of Enigma, Magna Canta layers the Gregorian-style chant of a ten-voice choir over modern electronica and strong dance beats, occasionally enhanced by spoken voice-overs. There is an air of intense mystery to this music, with a rich, energized fullness to the sound and enough musical variety to the compositions to make the music come alive. It fills the speakers and the room, and distinguishes itself from some of the more mindless attempts to imitate the success of Enigma. Intentcity Records seems to gravitate towards this sort of music, and they put out good work. Magna Canta and Lesiem--both groups on the Intencity label--have carved a musical niche for themselves by composing and performing their OWN Gregorian-style chants, usually matched to the meter of the music, rather than just sampling free-chant off of old recordings like Michael Cretu of Enigma did on "MCMXC A.D." This offers, I think, far more opportunities for creative and varied compositions, and for marrying the diverse musical elements into songs that are "all-of-a-piece" and have lasting impact. And I love the emphasis on the choir here--the one element above all others that distinguishes this style of music. Magna Canta is Junior Deros and Ray Frederico, with Sasha Ducker directing the Magna Canta Chorus. Magna Canta's follow-up album is "Sanctuary." If you like Magna Canta, you'll also like the work of Lesiem and Era. And try also "MCMXC A.D.," the seminal debut album of Enigma 14 years earlier that seems to have started the whole groove-chant phenomenon--at least in the popular arena.

I stumbled across this cd by Magna Canta and found it to be quite exquisite and beautiful. If you love the mystical and deep qualities of Enigma, Era and Lesiem the music on Enchanted Spirits will certainly grab your attention. I found the cd to be quite nice from beginning to end and found it great to play at night and on my long drives home in the evening. Some upbeat danceable songs and sexy grooves make this great for listening in many different areas of life. If you get a chance to pick this up i don't think you will be disappointed.