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Abraxas - The Liaison (1993) (Japanese TECX-25584)

Posted By: apocalipsys2014
Abraxas - The Liaison (1993) (Japanese TECX-25584)

Abraxas - The Liaison (1993)
Year & Label: 1993, Teichiku Records Co., Ltd. Japan | CD#: TECX-25584
Flac (image) | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | Artwork (JPG, 300 dpi) | File-hosts: FilePost
Heavy/Power Metal | FLAC: 430 MB | Artwork: 40 MB | MP3: 140 MB | 5% WinRAR Recovery

EAC Secure-rip with LOG+CUE+COVERS | Source: eMule
Original version is only available as a Japanese CD

The history of metal is loaded with stories of bands that could have been, but weren’t for some reason. In the case of many, the capricious nature of the mainstream was the principle culprit, as was the case with German power metal outfit Abraxas. Although they had been in existence since the mid-80s, they had not truly gotten a foothold until vocalist Chris Klauke, who had a brief run with another little known power/speed metal outfit “Mania”, joined the fold. Unfortunately for the band, the time of their big debut was right dead in the middle of the grunge takeover, and probably the worst year of that period 1993.

Although this release is available on a less limited basis under a different title with more songs tagged onto the end, the original release “The Liason” is superior because of the pacing not being thrown off from the track order being shuffled around. In my experience it is usually not a good idea to kick off an album with a 7 minute plus epic, as it will diminish the rest of the listen. I also prefer the album art of this release because it better fits the style of the music than the quasi-science fiction concept that was lifted from one of the other songs on here for the "Tomorrow's World" version.

“The Liason” is stylistically a brilliant mix of Helloween, Queensryche, Fates Warning and a host of other outfits from the old guard power and progressive metal scenes. It kicks off with the melodic speed classic “Cry of the Nature”, which is basically a heavier and better produced homage to “Eagle Fly Free”. “Dream Dealer” switches things up with a slower prog oriented rocker, definitely influenced by Queensryche’s “The Warning”. Other tracks like “Crusader’s Prayer” trade back and forth Iron Maiden and Accept influences, as well as some almost folk guitar melodies, while “Tomorrow’s Dream” thrashes it up with a killer galloping feel and a really powerful chorus. The title track has some hints of Fates Warning’s “No Exit” along with a couple of riffs that sound like they directly influenced Pagan’s Mind.

The only thing that is really standard about this album is the fact that the two best tracks on here are the longest ones. “Gates of Eden” and “Euphoria” both exhibit characteristics of the ideal epic in the Iron Maiden sense, but with all the stylistic trappings of the late 80s speed metal bands of Germany and dashes of mid-80s American power/prog. The bass interlude to “Euphoria” is almost gloomier yet dramatic version of the same kind heard on Maiden’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Although the solos and technical displays of this band may not impress in the same way that a Dream Theater or a Symphony X might, the songwriting carries a charm that sets it apart from much of the metal that came before it.

Although this band is under the power metal banner, the adventurous nature of the songs makes it a suitable member of the power/prog genre. Many of the newer acts in that genre, namely Pagan’s Mind and Anubis Gate share a common tendency in their sound that I don’t think is coincidental. Perhaps only an indirect influence, but nonetheless, Abraxas was definitely a unique beast for it’s time and was sadly well ahead of it’s time. For 1993, this is pretty much the best that you could get from this genre, even against the somewhat interesting Gamma Ray release “Insanity and Genius”, this takes the prize.

~ www.metal-archives.com
Abraxas at Metal Archives

Musicians:

Vocals : Chris Klauke
Guitars : Oliver Mindner
Guitars : Stephan Rohner
Bass : Jan Muller
Drums : Heiko Burst
Keyboards : Andreas Hittinger

All songs written and arranged by ABRAXAS
Produced by Hardy Heinlin and ABRAXAS
Recorded and mixed at Marquee Studios, Reutlingen, January/May 1993
Mixed by Hardy Heinlin and Chris Klauke

Track List:

01. Cry Of The Nature [3:40]
02. Dream Dealer [3:59]
03. Crusaders Prayer [4:27]
04. Gates To Eden [7:10]
05. Dreamers Island [5:33]
06. Explorers [5:14]
07. Tomorrow's World [4:26]
08. Place Without Mirrors [4:38]
09. The Liaison [4:25]
10. Euphoria [7:26]
11. Signs (Japanese Bonus Track) [4:20]

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 21. September 2011, 20:04

Abraxas / The Liaison

Used drive : ATAPI iHAP122 9 Adapter: 3 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 40 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -6 -V %s


TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:40.15 | 0 | 16514
2 | 3:40.15 | 3:59.35 | 16515 | 34474
3 | 7:39.50 | 4:26.63 | 34475 | 54487
4 | 12:06.38 | 7:10.37 | 54488 | 86774
5 | 19:17.00 | 5:32.40 | 86775 | 111714
6 | 24:49.40 | 5:13.48 | 111715 | 135237
7 | 30:03.13 | 4:26.37 | 135238 | 155224
8 | 34:29.50 | 4:37.73 | 155225 | 176072
9 | 39:07.48 | 4:25.02 | 176073 | 195949
10 | 43:32.50 | 7:26.15 | 195950 | 229414
11 | 50:58.65 | 4:20.10 | 229415 | 248924


Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename D:\Download\Abraxas - The Liaison.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Range quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC CE628F43
Copy OK

No errors occurred


AccurateRip summary

Track 1 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [D109E76C], AccurateRip returned [3B0E487F]
Track 2 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [1A452C09], AccurateRip returned [03DE1F05]
Track 3 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [EF59D432], AccurateRip returned [AB275273]
Track 4 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [950CAB07], AccurateRip returned [22E6A3E1]
Track 5 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [C7789C60], AccurateRip returned [03375D7F]
Track 6 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [5BEE8540], AccurateRip returned [8BEED778]
Track 7 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [99862FB5], AccurateRip returned [E845F792]
Track 8 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [9140EBCF], AccurateRip returned [83A4C0E8]
Track 9 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [A45695C9], AccurateRip returned [DD6DE947]
Track 10 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [3ED97E0E], AccurateRip returned [393DF3E5]
Track 11 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [F1A6E5D6], AccurateRip returned [864FE9F2]

No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database

End of status report

Not my rip, not my scan-job. Thx very much to the original uploader Ilijan [MMT]!
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