Gazpacho - Soyuz (2018) CD Rip

Progressive rock band Gazpacho formed in 1996 in Oslo, Norway. Childhood friends Jon-Arne Vilbo and Thomas Andersen had previously played together in a band called Delerium, and after reconnecting several years later, they formed Gazpacho with Jan Henrik Ohme on vocals, Lars Erik Asp on drums, Kristan Torp on bass, and Mikael Krømer on violin and mandolin.

In 2002 they entered a song contest with the track "Sea of Tranquility," which won first place. Their next entry achieved second place and earned them the chance to release their Get It While It's Cold (37°C) EP through MP3.com. A year later, the band put out their debut long-player, Bravo, which featured five of the tracks from their first EP, and the record secured them a spot at the Marillion Convention Weekend. In 2004, they recorded When Earth Let's Go with Steve Lyon, who had previously produced acts like the Cure and Depeche Mode. Despite his high-profile work, the band were still without a record deal, but having toured with Marillion gave them the opportunity to put out their third album through their own Racket Records label, and Firebird was released in 2005. Their next record, 2007's Night, coincided with their first headlining performance at Boerderiji in the Netherlands.

For their sixth album they made an ambitious concept record based on the experiences of the navigator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who crashed in the Sahara desert during a flight from Paris to Saigon. Their following release, 2010's Missa Atropos, was also a concept record based on the Greek Goddess of the same name. Gazpacho took a slightly different tack for March of Ghosts, which was described as a collection of short stories. The band remained highly active the following few years, with the release of Demon (2014) and Molok (2015), and extensive tours across Europe.

After a three-year recording break, they returned in 2018 with their tenth studio album Soyuz. The record drew from a wide range of reference points, including Hans Christian Andersen, a doomed Russian space capsule, and Tibetan Buddhist funeral practices. ~ Bekki Bemrose