The Spanish band of Amarok reached its seventh album, which according to the press release is probably their most varied and ambitious work by now. The band has also made some changes, such as adding lyrics in Catalan and English. Amarok's sound could be characterized ethnic progressive rock. In fact this is a merging of the two genres in a rather disjointed fashion. What I mean is that in most parts of the "Sol de Medianoche" album you will listen to either genre and not in a combination of both. In many times the album becomes an arduous task for inexperienced listeners or to people that dislike this Mediterranean kind of ethnic music. I am personally fed up by this music, since in Greece this kind of music is much appreciated by certain classes of the audience (especially the genres that come from Spain and Lower Italy). So, to some it might be exotic, but to some others not so attractive. Anyway, their music-pot contains also small portions of jazz-fusion and other ethnic styles, from the Mediterranean Sea, such as Turkish and Middle-Eastern, resulting in a true kaleidoscope of sounds. I would argue on the lack of "electricity" of the album, which is replaced to a great degree by horns and trumpets. I think that the album would sound different if the electric guitars had more power.

Despite the distant to metal sound-styles I was unexpectedly confronted with strange commonalities. "Wendigo" for example is having similarities with -probably most well hidden prog-metal diamond- "Kadath Decoded" of Payne's Gray. Both works ("Kadath Decoded" in its entirety) deal with the Cthulu mythology, so maybe the creators can communicate through the world of dreams (or should I say Cthulu orders them though dreams?). The cover of "Abaddon's Bolero" (originally by Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is really good, in terms that it's an actual cover and not a replication of the original (I doubt if it was ever in their intentions).

I can keep myself away from commenting on the existence of some short tracks or interludes, like "Duet for Hang and Bass" or "Xiongmao (the cat bearer)". It's not clear to me what is the role they play; I would say that they rather disorient the listener. To conclude, "Sol De Medianoche" is a very demanding work and you must be cautious if you do not want surprises. I can say I was convinced, but I can't say either that I was disappointed. It left me a with bitter taste, that perhaps it was sweeter if Amarok could add more electricity in their music.