Pochakaite Malko
Laya

It feels like being atop the outer walls of Helm's Deep on the night when the Uruk-hai of the white hand of Isengard launched the attack on the meager forces remaining to the steadfast King Théoden, Lord of Rohan. In this case, it is not the battle itself that strikes, not the overwhelming army under Saruman's command, nor the screams, nor the blood, but the vision of an elf and a dwarf, who, heedless of the despair surrounding them, have fun slaughtering orcs, keeping track of the kills to boast about it later to each other.

Listening to this album, it seems like seeing the scene from an alternative perspective: Kazuo Ogino, forced to kneel to simulate Gimli's short stature, while he hacks at the keyboard, and Akihisa Tsuboy, with a blond-silver wig and pointed ears, playing the violin using one of Legolas's arrows as a bow.

What emerges is a true massacre. There's no respite for anyone. Junzo Tateiwa and Shigekazu Kuwahara, respectively on drums and bass, certainly hold their own, especially in the more exotic and celebratory moments ("Frozen Shoulder" - "Hallelujah", in which guest Ryuichi Imai also participates, sinisterly plucking the oud), but it is the other two fiercely competitive musicians who vie for absolute dominance of the lands of Laya; a 2004 class work and successor of that eponymous debut which, three years earlier, had impressed upon it the hegemony of the band's Emersonian keyboardist (along with Tomohiro Ueno, dealing with the same instrument), still lacking the counterweight that the KBB violinist would bring in this semi-masterpiece of avant-prog richly seasoned with ethnic, zehul, and fusion elements.

Although "Pochakaite Malko" means "wait a minute" in Bulgarian, there are very few pauses here; mainly due to the frequent hysterical surges that tend to afflict Akihisa, in the final phases of solemn ceremonies with a gloomy and crepuscular flavor ("Death By Hanging" - "Cristao ~ Peasants Revolt"), or Kazuo, in the midst of harsh climbs marked by irrationality and the most disturbed tightrope walking ("It Came from..." - "Somewhere In Time"). Nevertheless, there are commendable passages of undeniable instrumental delicacy: from the lively eastern-flavored folk of the title track (featuring the vocalizations of guest Keiku), to the majestic elegance generated by the violin-piano duo in highly refined episodes ("Meat Powdered Bones" - "D.N.A."), still linked to the dark and twisted atmosphere on which this excellent album is based, whose very high levels would only be partially reached by the subsequent and even darker EP "Doppelgänger", released in 2006.

Given the results, it is to be hoped that this compelling collaboration will continue, perhaps as much as that of Gimli and Legolas, who, having moved to the immortal lands of Valinor at the end of the Third Age, will probably still be engaged in some bizarre and inconceivable challenge, although, considering all the time that has passed, it might be more logical to expect, at most, an engaging game of briscola in front of the fireplace, with a cup of tea in hand and a portrait, as a testament to past adventures, gathering dust atop a nightstand.