Murat Ilkan
Fanus
Sony Music
2013
The name to Murat Ilkan might not be entirely unknown to the metal connoisseurs amongst the vast crowds of those who profess to be “fans” of the genre, but outside of his native Turkey, I am not entirely sure if the former singer of Pentagram/Merzakabul is exactly a household name.
A few might remember that the aforementioned band did cause quite some stir and received pretty favorable reviews for their “Anatolia” opus and the band seemed destined to achieve things even on an international level, but then out of the blue, tragedy struck, Murat was diagnosed with Sclerosis, which set both his and the bands career back and even put his life in danger, almost paralyzing him. Following medical treatment and a very relaxed lifestyle over the course of the years, Murat did eventually make a good recovery and is now much better, allowing him to partake in some limited musical activities and even return to one of his favorite crafts, music – an aptitude for which he had displayed from a very young and tender age of believe it or not… 3 years old. Maybe it was this very calling that also helped him partially overcome his problems. We all do face our problems big or small, but it’s always important to have some focus in life, a direction, dreams, a goal and a hunger inside (ooops Kiss want back part of their lyric, I suppose) and if music is that, it’s a noble calling...
“Fanus” (meaning Latern) is his debut solo effort it and finds Murat, performing a very uplifting and brilliant prog influenced sort of amalgam of metal, with rock and slight eastern influences, that do not become too overbearing. It was jointly (I think produced with the bands guitarist) and it features a great bunch of musicians that help Murat bring his musical vision to life.
“Merhaba” (Hello) is the very uplifting opener, of this 7 track EP (or short album) that just happily announces the entrance to Murat’s little “place” by just saying “Hello” which is just what, “Merhaba” means. Although, Murat sings in his native Turkish, he’s refined the accent and pronounces words in such a way that it sounds very much as if it’s something different, almost like a non “eastern” but a quite “western” language, he almost makes Turkish sound like some sort of bizarre French, without sounding ridiculous, which is quite an achievement, to have a soft non obtrusive accent and presumably to still sing in your native tongue. It’s a really nice opener with some nice melodies.
But it’s “Yaramaz Çocuk” (Naughty Children) a slower, way more melodic track that impresses a lot more, with Murat singing a very impressive and quite imaginative if not a little unorthodox, climaxing chorus! Here, the prog overtones are both trimmed down, musically, as only the percussion is somewhat more complex, but the exceptional vocal melodies and the nice solo in the middle of the song really make up more than that. Fantastic song!
“Mirror Mirror” is sung in English, the sole song on this selection that actually is, making it somewhat more accessible to international listeners. It’s darker and more endoscopic, (if you get a cue from the title and the lyrics) with the possibility of Murat’s own life experiences, (a serious illness that had him quit a lot of his musical pursuits including Pentagram, for an extended period of time and from which he only seems to have been recovering now). It’s an emotionally charged song with a strong performance and impressive, mesmerizing melodies.
“Fanus” itself an autobiographic song about Murat. Who he is, his dreams, hopes, even how his illness changed him (also represented through the beautiful, allegorical cover) is a heart-breaking, heart achingly beautiful, slower ponderous song, that begins in a very hurt an sad way, but slowly unfurls and becomes increasingly brighter and happier and more celebratory, just as the man himself, managed through medical treatment to overcome his serious condition... it has a nice Pink Floydish quality about it and I will honestly say that I was almost moved to tears, even if I had to get the lyrics translated to understand them, you see, sometimes – you instinctively, get some 5% of what a song might be about, even if there’s a language barrier… so how can some people say that we’re all so different after all and not brothers beneath the skin?
“Dil” (Tongue) is the most straightforward rocking track on the album, but is still maintains a lot of prog elements. It’s more technocratic, more akin to the Dream Theater’s and the likes of the later years rather than following the more traditional approach, but thankfully without being so overplaying and tiresome. In fact, I was also reminded of Tore Ostby’s more eclectic Conception (“Flow” era) and Ark, projects with more prog tendencies.
“Yalan” (Lie) is another rather bright sounding song, with an infectious dynamic and very melodic chorus that just manages to make a very nice impression without overstaying its welcome. It’s rare to see that…
Finally “Sen Ve Ben” (You and I) is a beautiful acoustic ballad that seems to be an ideal epilogue to this nice short collection of songs, whether it’s a dedication to a loved one, or it more broadly embraces all of Murat’s fans I am not qualified to say until I have been able to decipher the lyrics, but no-one can deny the songs “fragile” magnificence!
With all the Turkish “soap operas” being the only “cultural” export that our nation seems to be exposed to, I feel blessed to have on occasion discovered a few Turkish artists that are actually not ridiculous but actually really amazing... with the resources they have available some of them have excelled. Murat is an example, the comedian Cem Yilmaz is another and the list goes on… (what I am trying to say is don’t be dismissive of the neighbors culture only by the surface stuff... while they have a lot of crap, don’t we have Pantelidis? And don’t get me started on the Doberman…)
Do take “Fanus” seriously, because it’s a nice prog album that will prove to be a deeply rewarding listening experience. I am too sad that I have already submitted my top 20 albums for 2013 otherwise, I might as well have included this fine – most excellent EP release among them. Seek it out, online, through the artist or on I suppose any auction sites in case any copies show up...(?)
A few might remember that the aforementioned band did cause quite some stir and received pretty favorable reviews for their “Anatolia” opus and the band seemed destined to achieve things even on an international level, but then out of the blue, tragedy struck, Murat was diagnosed with Sclerosis, which set both his and the bands career back and even put his life in danger, almost paralyzing him. Following medical treatment and a very relaxed lifestyle over the course of the years, Murat did eventually make a good recovery and is now much better, allowing him to partake in some limited musical activities and even return to one of his favorite crafts, music – an aptitude for which he had displayed from a very young and tender age of believe it or not… 3 years old. Maybe it was this very calling that also helped him partially overcome his problems. We all do face our problems big or small, but it’s always important to have some focus in life, a direction, dreams, a goal and a hunger inside (ooops Kiss want back part of their lyric, I suppose) and if music is that, it’s a noble calling...
“Fanus” (meaning Latern) is his debut solo effort it and finds Murat, performing a very uplifting and brilliant prog influenced sort of amalgam of metal, with rock and slight eastern influences, that do not become too overbearing. It was jointly (I think produced with the bands guitarist) and it features a great bunch of musicians that help Murat bring his musical vision to life.
“Merhaba” (Hello) is the very uplifting opener, of this 7 track EP (or short album) that just happily announces the entrance to Murat’s little “place” by just saying “Hello” which is just what, “Merhaba” means. Although, Murat sings in his native Turkish, he’s refined the accent and pronounces words in such a way that it sounds very much as if it’s something different, almost like a non “eastern” but a quite “western” language, he almost makes Turkish sound like some sort of bizarre French, without sounding ridiculous, which is quite an achievement, to have a soft non obtrusive accent and presumably to still sing in your native tongue. It’s a really nice opener with some nice melodies.
But it’s “Yaramaz Çocuk” (Naughty Children) a slower, way more melodic track that impresses a lot more, with Murat singing a very impressive and quite imaginative if not a little unorthodox, climaxing chorus! Here, the prog overtones are both trimmed down, musically, as only the percussion is somewhat more complex, but the exceptional vocal melodies and the nice solo in the middle of the song really make up more than that. Fantastic song!
“Mirror Mirror” is sung in English, the sole song on this selection that actually is, making it somewhat more accessible to international listeners. It’s darker and more endoscopic, (if you get a cue from the title and the lyrics) with the possibility of Murat’s own life experiences, (a serious illness that had him quit a lot of his musical pursuits including Pentagram, for an extended period of time and from which he only seems to have been recovering now). It’s an emotionally charged song with a strong performance and impressive, mesmerizing melodies.
“Fanus” itself an autobiographic song about Murat. Who he is, his dreams, hopes, even how his illness changed him (also represented through the beautiful, allegorical cover) is a heart-breaking, heart achingly beautiful, slower ponderous song, that begins in a very hurt an sad way, but slowly unfurls and becomes increasingly brighter and happier and more celebratory, just as the man himself, managed through medical treatment to overcome his serious condition... it has a nice Pink Floydish quality about it and I will honestly say that I was almost moved to tears, even if I had to get the lyrics translated to understand them, you see, sometimes – you instinctively, get some 5% of what a song might be about, even if there’s a language barrier… so how can some people say that we’re all so different after all and not brothers beneath the skin?
“Dil” (Tongue) is the most straightforward rocking track on the album, but is still maintains a lot of prog elements. It’s more technocratic, more akin to the Dream Theater’s and the likes of the later years rather than following the more traditional approach, but thankfully without being so overplaying and tiresome. In fact, I was also reminded of Tore Ostby’s more eclectic Conception (“Flow” era) and Ark, projects with more prog tendencies.
“Yalan” (Lie) is another rather bright sounding song, with an infectious dynamic and very melodic chorus that just manages to make a very nice impression without overstaying its welcome. It’s rare to see that…
Finally “Sen Ve Ben” (You and I) is a beautiful acoustic ballad that seems to be an ideal epilogue to this nice short collection of songs, whether it’s a dedication to a loved one, or it more broadly embraces all of Murat’s fans I am not qualified to say until I have been able to decipher the lyrics, but no-one can deny the songs “fragile” magnificence!
With all the Turkish “soap operas” being the only “cultural” export that our nation seems to be exposed to, I feel blessed to have on occasion discovered a few Turkish artists that are actually not ridiculous but actually really amazing... with the resources they have available some of them have excelled. Murat is an example, the comedian Cem Yilmaz is another and the list goes on… (what I am trying to say is don’t be dismissive of the neighbors culture only by the surface stuff... while they have a lot of crap, don’t we have Pantelidis? And don’t get me started on the Doberman…)
Do take “Fanus” seriously, because it’s a nice prog album that will prove to be a deeply rewarding listening experience. I am too sad that I have already submitted my top 20 albums for 2013 otherwise, I might as well have included this fine – most excellent EP release among them. Seek it out, online, through the artist or on I suppose any auction sites in case any copies show up...(?)