Search - Kenso :: Birodosho Kitan

This is the same album as "Fabulis Mirabilibus De Bombycosi

Squire Jaco | Buffalo, NY USA | 03/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"....and do NOT make me type out that title again!



Perhaps "Birodosho Kitan" is the name of the album in Japanese, but the album cover and a couple of the song names here suggest that "BK" and "FMDBS" are one-and-the-same album. The cd edition that I own is issued in Italy, and features a beautiful heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with an 8-page booklet containing pictures of the band members and other info. (The Latin-sounding title may simply be the result of the Italian production?)



This latest (2002) studio album from the incredible Nippon prog-fusion outfit known as Kenso is another great one, more in the style of their classic mid-80's stuff. Featuring the same line-up as on their outstanding 1997 live album "In The West", the sound is sometimes a bit heavier (especially on tracks 1 and 3) and more modern than their older music, but always melodic and interesting. You'll also find more Japanese sounds, voices and melodies sprinkled around on this album.



Guitarist Yoshihisa Shimizu writes almost all of the music, which typically features complex time signatures and great arrangements. He also plays all of the instruments on three shorter tracks. Shunji Saegusa's bass guitar on the whole cd is deep and cool - I LOVE it!



The album flows along nicely, with many moments of great musicianship. I'm including a track listing here since this Amazon page currently only shows "Japanese Title" for most of the tracks. (By the way, I only have 15 tracks on my edition of the cd).



Track listing:

1. Fist of Fury (5:10)

2. The Cunning Madrigal (4:20)

3. Prelude to Concealment (2:23)

4. Wooden Horse Pathos (3:57)

5. The Split Gate (6:57)

6. Rebellion (4:04)

7. The Stairs for Dreaming (2:27)

8. Echoes From Foro Romano (5:27)

9. The Daughter of a Recluse (2:10)

10. A Way of Living as Taro (2:40)

11. Doppelganger in the Night (1:14)

12. Isolated Jiro (4:14)

13. The Understanding (1:01)

14. A Grim Diary (5:53)

15. Amalgamation of Self and Others (1:36)



Ideally, I guess I wish that they hadn't thrown in some of the quirkier, shorter bits (e.g., "The Stairs..." and "Doppelganger..."), or some of the heavier moments. But overall, this is a very good cd from a very special prog-fusion band. There are at least 10 songs here that you'll find are just kicking excellent! Seek this one out, my friends. I mean, after all, it IS "fabulis...."



I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:

Music quality = 8.3/10; Performance = 9/10; Production = 9/10; CD length = 10/10.

Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 8.7 ("4 stars")

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