The Samurai Of Prog is a Finland-based multinational band consisting of the core trio Marco Bernard (bass), Steve Unruh (violin, flute, guitars, vocals) and Kimmo Pörsti (drums), who are always supported by a huge amount of additional guest musicians.
Their seventh studio album Toki no Kaze, which means Winds of Time in Japanese, is inspired by Japanese anime film maker Hayao Miyazaki. I don't know this film maker nor his films. The only thing I can say is that this album is again a masterpiece of symphonic prog, with its playful compositions, pastoral sounds and lush orchestration of keyboards, guitars, drums, violins, flute and wind instruments. One song is sung by Japanese singer and keyboardist Yuko Tomiyama, two other songs by Elisa Montaldo, who is known for her work with 'Il Tempio delle Clessidre'.
Nearly all their previous albums were among my yearly top 10, and I think this album will be no exception. It's again a candidate for best album of the year!
Starport Omega : Saturday 18:00 PST (Sunday 03:00 CEST, 01:00 GMT)
Floating Islands : Sunday 15:00 PST (Monday 00:00 CEST, Sunday 22:00 GMT)
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