Customer Reviews

Makara

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me preface this review by stating that I own both of ESP's previous albums, and several of those albums' tracks are my absolute favorite pieces of "trailer" music. This genre has exploded into more general public awareness lately, helped very much by ESP and Globus.

That said, Makara is lacking in subtlety and variety. As another reviewer mentioned, this is constant high-octane action music, and it gets tiring very quickly. If you enjoyed the more delicate aspects of Unearthed's Nara and many of Cartographer's Pi mixes, I'd recommend avoiding this release. The 30-second previews give a pretty good idea about the intensity of the tracks; now simply extrapolate and imagine that intensity being sustained for the entire length of each track. There's only so much emotional bombardment one can take on a single CD.

Don't get me wrong; it is pleasantly surprising when one of the tracks show up during a shuffle-all playlist, but they are too grating for repeated, dedicated listens.

Here's hoping their next release is a good mix of emotional highs and lows with more delicate orchestration!

Makara left me rather disappointed.

On the up side:
Posthumus dropped the songs from "Cartographer" and did stick to what they do best. Very dramatic and melodious music. They do a splendid job there. There isn't a single moment in which the album calms down.

On the down side:
The album sounds very cheap. Posthumus did a gigantic backflip here. Most symphonic metal bands and quite a few commercial trailer music companies start with synthetically produced orchestra sounds, because they can't afford a real orchestra. Nightwish, Within Temptation are now using real orchestras and "Two Steps from Hell" did so from the first album on i think. Both "Unearthed" and "Cartographer" used the real deal (the Seattle Symphony Orchestra to be exact) plus a choir, but this time around it is very obvious that no real orchestra and absolutely no choir was involved and that the brothers simply used a computer. The album sounds flat, there is no depth and no soul in the sound. Yes the arrangements are still epic, but even the harmonies are of the cheapest kind and I can't say that I was swept away by the music, the way I was while listening to the first two albums. I am very sure that tracks like "Vishnu", "Manju" and "Kuvera" would have sounded truly massive and epic with a real orchestra. Maybe the brothers will make more money with the album, because they didn't have to pay an expensive orchestra, but the listening pleasure has been equally reduced. Especially bad are the two classical tracks that have been newly arranged. Just horrid with this computer generated orchestra. The weakest entry of Posthumus so far. No question about it.

There are so many things wrong with this album that its difficult to figure out where to start. I guess we can start with the positive side: There are hints of some great riffs on this album. I appreciate ESP listening to critique of Cartographer and going for a more high-intensity album overall. Also, Unstoppable is pure genius.
Okay, now onto the problems...

1) Compression - Who ever did the mastering of this CD should be shot! In the previous ESP releases, there was always headroom for when the sound got truly epic. You could always hear the individual instruments and voices clearly. Not so with Makara. Almost every track (including Unstoppable) it compressed to within an inch of its life so for the majority of each song there is no space and you are assaulted with a constant wall of unintelligible sound. Strings and horns are especially decimated by this awful mastering.

2) Repetition / No Progression - This was also a problem in their Cartographer release. Go back and listen to Unearthed and you will hear how each song has structure, melody, and power that builds. I have no problem with the intensity of this record that a lot of people take issue with. In fact, I would love nothing more than an entire 70 minute album that is high-intensity. The problem is this album really only has 10 minutes of high-intensity music that is repeated over and over again. Lets take 'Varuna' as an example, there is a lot to like in this song. However it is too overly repetitious to actually be called good. Listen to the section with the punchy base and high strings. It uses the same three notes in the low end and just adds more strings in the high end over and over. If ESP had any melodic vision this section could have built to something great but instead it is boring and dissapointing. Similarly, the end of the song could have been good but instead is a single repeated refrain of one measure that is just terrible! There is no progression, no building, and the one measure they use to repeat over and over again is quite a poor choice as well.

3) No Melodies - With the exception of Unstoppable and portions of Arise, this album is almost devoid of any melody. I honestly was thinking there was something wrong with my album and that it was mixed without the melody track in most songs. Most of these tracks would have been vastly improved with some structural melody element as was used in all the songs on Cartographer and Unearthed. Here we have the powerful background of the orchestra and choir but no hook or driving theme anywhere. It's like ESP designed this album to have someone else write the melodies over it.

4) Classical Songs - Note to ESP: "Leave retooling classical music to The Transiberian Orchestra." The redone versions of Saint Matthew's Passion and the Moonlight Sonata are downright atrocious. There is nothing of interest in either song. A good remake would have built upon the original (much like TO did to Carol of the Bells). Not only that but to have ESP cover the Moonlight Sonata and not touch the third movement is a travesty (I should know, I learned to play all three movements on the piano when I was 14, and the third movement is truly epic). Please ESP, do not try this again

5) Cheap / No Variation in Production - Listen to Unearthed or Cartographer straight through (well actually on Cartography you can skip tracks 8-14) and you will hear a impressive variety of music. The various ethnic sounds, different instrumentation choices, mix of classical, acoustic, and heavy guitars, all make for a moving experience that changes over time. Now on Makara, you almost can't tell the difference between any of the songs (with the exception of 'Lavanya'). Let me clarify, I am not against high-intensity all the way through, but I am against using the exact same combination of instruments and choir parts again and again. Where's the pan flute from Cartographer, or the Urd from Unearthed, or any of the other varied sounds I've come to expect from ESP. I'm sure using the same sounds repeatedly saved the group money on musicians but I feel like this release just sounds 'Cheap' because of the lack of variety. I have a habit of putting my workstation synthesizer on a signal sound (typically some large orchestral patch) and just coming up with themes, or riffs and recording them. I feel like ESP did this as well and then just released it as an album.

What a let down. I am still holding out hope that ESP gets it together in their next release. Can you imagine how awesome an album it would be if they put something together that matches the progression of their best work? Think of an album of new songs in the vain of: Cuzco, Memouthis, Pompeii, Ashief Pi, Orannu Pi, Mosane Pi, Selisona Pi, Odenall Pi, Unstoppable. That would be incredible.

In summary, Makara has only 1 great song (Unstoppable), a few good ideas (Varuna, Lavanya, Arise), and a lot of missed opportunities.

I love Posthumus' stuff! It pops up everywhere - seen the trailer for "Sherlock Holmes" with Downing Jr.? The background action theme is the very first song on this album! Great thematic stuff, if you like soundtrack-style epicness. (Which I do!)

I totally agree with the review made by Fire from New York - this is defenitely the weakest of the 3 albums with very little variety - the album is full of high paced tracks which at some point just makes you go the the next song, only to figure out that the next one is also bombastic. I got tired of it quickly and it actually made me feel stressed out. Perhaps this album is best for action movie soundtracks or driving on a highway or if you need to rush to the hospital ! The last song is a remake of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata - although nice, they could have made it much more beautiful by adding in a choir. Overal a disappointing album of one of my favourite artists - it only a 'nice to have' , nothing more.

After their last release, Cartographer, which was a mellow, sleep-inducing album, this CD is a comeback that is unparalleled.

It's well worth the money. This is the perfect combination of epicness with melodiousness, featuring tracks like "Unstoppable" that just really gets your heart racing.

Incredible.

I love listening to this genre of music, but I also use it to teach Yoga. E.S. Posthumus never disappoints. This was their strongest album yet. I use these songs for powerful asanas, such as warrior poses. My Yoga classes fill up because I do not use snooze music. This is just a great all-around album that works for so many settings, including long drives. Uplifting and inspirational.

If you liked their first work 'Unearthed' you'll LOVE this! Lot of epic tracks there!!!

Maybe bad two things:
- I'll quit the covers of Beethoven and Mozart and put some quiet homemade like their second work: 'Cartographer'
- Looks like they put the songs randomly on the cd and click 'burn'. Some rush on finishing it...

I find the music on this CD very inspiring to my writing. Great for work-outs, too, when you need a push to make that last few minutes of cardio.

This album hit me the moment I first heard Unstoppable, it is truly amazing in my opinion, well worth buying.