Just looking at the cover art for "Moby Dick," created by bassist Marco Bernard, known from The Samurai of Prog, is a pleasure in itself. The artwork by Ed Unitsky is captivating with its fairytale-like quality and professional execution. The meticulous attention to detail, combined with the inventiveness of the images, hints at what awaits the listener once they sit down to listen to this album. The novel itself, which underlies this musical interpretation of the fates of Captain Ahab, Ishmael, Queequeg, and the other crew members of the Pequod, is likely well-known to everyone. The maddened commander makes his expedition's sole purpose a vengeance on the whale that maimed him, the legendary white sperm whale, Moby Dick. The frantic pursuit of the sperm whale becomes an opportunity to show the whaling craft, to present all the knowledge about whales at that time and to describe the struggle between feelings and reason, between human will and fate. An opportunity to portray fear, human behavior in the face of danger, and simple human helplessness. This blend of styles, threads, and narrative methods makes "Moby-Dick" more than a simple tale of hunting, madness, and human fate. It's not just an adventure novel or some psychological treatise on humanity, and at the same time, it raises a question that isn't literary at all, but entirely musical: how to convey all this through sounds, chords, riffs, and vocal lines? How to make the listener grasp the horror of the events, the drama of helplessness, and simultaneously feel the power of the experiences associated with sailing under endless skies, hunting, and life at sea.
It's worth noting right away that this isn't the first time the album's author has taken on the task of creating a musical story on a "given theme." In 2020, he made Gulliver the subject of his musical tale. A year later, Robinson Crusoe. Peter Pan became the subject of the 2023 album. That same year, another release inspired by literature appeared, this time "The Man in the Iron Mask." It's no surprise, then, that this is another attempt to musically present a literary story in the form of musical impressions.
And in each of these subsequent attempts, the band manages to create the atmosphere of a symphonic narrative based on the flawless interplay of all the instruments, reminiscent of well-known classics. Each of the tracks—there are only six on this album (including the bonus track)—is a self-contained musical chapter, taking the form of a suite. Of course, there's no shortage of the powerful organ passages typical of symphonic-progressive rock, solo guitar performances, and skillfully interwoven violin, cello, and flute arrangements. We receive six suites with an almost classical sound structure, whose defining characteristic, I believe, is a delicacy and melodic quality that creates an almost cinematic atmosphere. The listener feels as if they are watching not so much a theatrical performance as a film, in which subsequent images are presented in the form of short sound snapshots. This statement is reinforced by the way the booklet is prepared. In addition to the texts, photos, and technical information, it also contains "director's notes" that help the listener-viewer understand which moment in the story a given piece of music refers to. This "director-de-esque" introduction, for example, in the case of the first composition, "Loomings," looks like this: "(...) In the first chapter of 'Moby Dick,' entitled 'Loomings,' we meet Ishmael, a sailor thirsting for adventure, who decides to join a whaling expedition aboard the Pequod, commanded by the mysterious Captain Ahab. This chapter vividly depicts Nantucket, a thriving center of the whaling industry, and Ishmael's narrative reveals the strict hierarchy and difficult conditions aboard the ship. This introduction suggests the dangerous and unpredictable journey that awaits the crew once they set sail." The subsequent parts of this album, subsequent compositions, are preceded by similar "hints."
From there, there's only music and lyrics. Then there's a compelling musical tale of heroism and cowardice, of great deeds and equally great omissions. We enter the world of whalers, the world of human madness, human fear, the world of maritime adventure and the enchanted microcosm of a crew struggling with the daily grind of life on a raging ocean. And we enter this world in a special way... with the sounds of a piano, which, like modern Morse code, announces that something extraordinary is coming, that the next parts of the story will take us beyond this everyday, visible world, that a time for adventure is coming. Just listen to the almost classical orchestral arrangement in the second minute. Then there's only the sea, the journey, the adventure, underscored by the organ, drawing us into the depths of the ocean. We enter the realm of obsession. "Loomings" also provides a good musical example of what to expect from subsequent tracks. Symphonic arrangements based on well-known progressive solutions blending wonderful keyboard playing with the rhythm section. A light jazzy feel and a soaring melody make this track incredibly light and, thanks to the piano, somehow mysterious.
"The Quarter Deck" – the second composition – is a tale of obsession. A tale of the search for a white whale. Besides the whale's "voice," the interestingly resolved vocal line is noteworthy. The duet is clearly audible, although the liner notes only list one vocalist. Moreover, this composition "belongs" to the organ and violin. They create its nervous system, its dynamics, and it is they who captivate the listener with their playing.
Improvisation at the very beginning. Strong symphonic sounds immediately follow. And finally, vintage keyboards in the second minute, along with a ballad-like vocal line – this is how the third track, "Fastfish, Loosefish," begins. Then we enter the wonderful territory of a lyrical tale about the habits of whalers, in a 1970s style. A wonderful radio single track.
"The Quadrant" is a nervous anticipation of an encounter with the white monster, also reflected in the musical line. Bold organ improvisations, a flute solo, and a powerful guitar. It's also an over ten-minute composition divided into three parts: "The Sea Mark," "Crossing the Equator," and "The Thrill of the Chase." It's a musical description of fear, nervousness, and a sense of danger, yet also a certain sense of pride stemming from participating in such a dangerous undertaking. And so the song is "mixed," dividing individual phrases into delicate and sharp, improvisational and atmospheric ballad-like. These are also moments where solemn sounds attempt to convey the pathos of the situation.
The penultimate composition on this album is a musical description of a battle. A description of a tragedy born of obsession. A description of the confrontation between man and nature, fate and destiny. "The Chase" is a sailor's song about the hunt for a white monster. It combines melodeclamation, short sung cries, and instrumental sections. The sense of musical chaos symbolizes the moments of fighting the whale, the moments of madness revealing itself, and the loss of reason in favor of the will to defeat the invincible monster. Eleven minutes of musical playfulness intended to convey the emotions of the hunt.
It's a bit odd that the final track, "Epilogue," is described as a bonus track. The "director's note" suggests it's a summary of the main themes of the novel "Moby Dick"—obsession, revenge, and the complexities of human nature. Musically, it's an instrumental piece for piano and bass guitar, accompanied by the sounds of crashing waves in the background. Time to reflect? Time to reflect on what we've heard? Time to reflect on humanity? You have almost three minutes to respond...
I'll be a bit dismissive of the extras that come with the physical copy of "Moby Dick." Disc number 2, as I'll call it here, is a set of covers titled "Undercover Deux." The album contains seven tracks plus one. This division is my personal preference. More on that later. I won't describe what's happening on this disc. Words simply can't describe the album's original "remakes" of songs like "Anthem" by Rush, "Good Time Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin, "Uncle Remus" by Frank Zappa, "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston, and finally, "In the Dead of Night" by UK. And that's not all. There's also a stunning version of Al Di Meola's "Race With the Devil on a Spanish Highway" and a cover of "Impressioni Di Septembre" by the masters of Italian progressive rock, PFM.
A special place, I dare say, belongs to the composition "Stories of the Sea," which is based on a bass line played by M. Manring, a master of fretless bass guitar. However, in my opinion, Marco Grieco made a significant contribution to the sound of this piece, for which he deserves special recognition.
Over twenty musicians participated in the preparation of these two albums, and to avoid omitting any of them, I will not mention them here.
How does this latest attempt at juxtaposing music with literature fare? Without a doubt, Marco Barnard's albums draw much inspiration from classic rock, classic progressive rock, its Italian subgenre, and… classical music (at least structurally). When listening to them, it's important to remember this, so that you can more consciously allow yourself to flow with the sounds. These aren't releases for scatterbrained freeloaders, but rather for connoisseurs of individual sounds and emerging harmonies. However, I don't mean to imply that this is music for the select few. These are simply sounds for the discerning listener with some musical experience and… a penchant for seeking out unconventional arrangements and soundscapes.
