Cygnus Rock Band - Fornalda sýnir (Ancient Visions)

Cygnus Rock band has this tradition since their 2nd Viking album, "Fire and Tales" to open their albums with a symphonic overture.

No, even now I won't explain what an overture is. You had enough time since "Death and Glory" to search for it, read about it

in case you can read and analyze texts that consist of more than 3 simple sentences 😒

and understand it, not to mention the fact to listen to Cygnus's albums over and over again to figure out the structure of their overtures, the composition of them, how they are built up...

And there's the most beautiful part of it as well, to listen to the overture again and again and again, figuring out what instruments are included, what's playing hide-and-seek with your ears, catching a string tremolo or a hidden percussion, and so on. These overtures are endless guessing games, may the hands that made them and put these instruments together get covered with gold

(as the saying goes in my mother tongue for appreciation)

and then we haven't even mentioned how exciting it is to find out which song of the album pops up in the form of brasses, or strings, which one is a tiny bit slower than in the original song, which one got a bit faster pace... these overtures are endless sources of joy and thrill, and no matter how many times you listen to them, you will always find something new, because our beloved and very creative Colombians thoroughly compose them with the utmost care and love.

Of course it requires brain cells, ears, open heart, open mind and all those things people out there usually lack. But we don't give up, hope dies last anyway.

The overture follows the structure and rules of classical music overtures, as you could see in "Daudi ok dyrd"

I have linked it, scroll back up

and again I won't tell you in which order the songs follow each other in the opening, you kindly wash your ears and learn to listen.

It's full of beauties.

It's wonderful and breathtaking to hear the rich, delicious and passionate song turning into a soft piano solo; the timpani at the intro

timpani and percussions are something that are never too much, nor are they enough!

the string tremolos every now and then

they are plain beautiful, I can't have enough of them... every time I hear them, they give me goosebumps. And the greatest thing is that they appear on the album later, too, not just in the overture!

hearing one of my favorite Cygnus song of all times getting a wonderful, grandiose theme, rich in timpani, percussions and brass/wind instruments

no, I won't tell you now which one it is, you kindly wait

followed by a piece from one of the most beautiful themes of the album, with an outstanding orchestral construction.

harp, clarinet, strings.... it's so rich! 💓

Timpani, more tremolos, dramatic strings accompany one of the great power ballads of the album. Pizzicatos play hide-and-seek with the listener along with percussions. Some songs are clearly recognizable, some of them need more listening and focus.

I'm aware that a lot of people don't recognize or comprehend the beauty of these overtures, not to mention the enormous, hard work our beloved rockers invest into it. The vast majority of ordinary music listeners by default have a dislike for classical tunes, either by some not too happy school memory or by a strict family member who disallowed any music in the house but classical. 

It's obviously only my opinion, but Cygnus Rock Band gives us a wonderful chance to learn to listen to and to appreciate classical pieces. This is pure rock, translated into the language of classical music, and also much much more. It's very rich, sometimes even richer than the original song itself - even though our favorite Colombians happily and lavishly pamper us with hidden details in every song

they improved this ability of theirs on a divine level

these openings give them a chance to let their creativity loose and hide tiny (or great) parts all around these tracks, taking advantage of the richness and all the possibilities of an entire symphonic orchestra. 

Not to mention that YOU yourself also get a chance from them to refine your hearing, your thinking and eventually your entire approach to life. All this for free, generously, with lots of love. Will you take it?

All in all, this oveture is way much more than you would ever think. Give it a chance. Give also yourself a chance. And then hug these Colombians for their generosity and love.