Rivendell / Wonder by ARAGORN (1973)

from the album The Suite by ARAGORN
previously unreleased. recorded in 1973.

released by Merry-Go-Round records.
MGRL-0005 (LP & 7inch) / MGRL-0005 (CD)

In 1975, a strange album that pressed only 50 copies without even an outer sleeve was released quietly. It was the only album by Snakes Alive, a band with a unique combination of guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, woodwinds and trumpet. About 25 years later, when its pirated CD was released, people were amazed at the high level of performance by unknown musicians and the complex, well-designed structure of a mix of progressive rock and jazz. There are countless minor bands that have disappeared leaving only one album in the form of a private pressing, but Snakes Alive’s album was on a different level from those of mediocre minor ones. Despite this high level of musical quality, due to the very small amount of pressings, their music did not reach a larger audience and the band disappeared into history.

Snakes Alive had only been active for about a year, but if you look at their history, you can see that the group ‘Aragorn’, formed in 1972, was the starting point of their musical career. They also didn't release an official album, but fortunately they left an album-length recording, and that's the album you're listening to right now called ‘The Suite’. This magnificent 43-minute grand piece, mainly composed by the keyboardist Oleg Ditrich was originally inspired by none other than, J.R.R Tolkien’s novel, 'The Lord of the Rings'.

Oleg Dietrich, who studied classical music from an early age, began composing The Suite in 1967 under the influence of his friend John Simpson, who was obsessed with The Lord of the Rings. Oleg was only 14 years old at the time. After completing most of the composition, he formed the band Aragorn, named after the main character in the novel. In September 1973, after completing additional work on the composition and arrangement with the help of other band members, The Suite was recorded, but did not reach an album release and remained only as master tapes.

This album is a 43-minute suite consisting of 16 short pieces. As it is a song that has been refined over a period of 6 years, it shows a fairly elaborate level of completion.

The first thing that stands out in terms of performance is Oleg’s classical piano, which reveals his musical roots, and Peter Nykyruj’s drums, which give rich variation to the flow of the song’s structure. Also, what’s interesting is the glimpse of Jethro Tull throughout the aggressive appearance of flute and minstrel melody in the vocal by Jonas Sayewell. A fabulous flute solo flaring out on the solid rhythm , a medieval vibe using rippling guitar ensemble - Those excellent elements and ideas in a series of short pieces are proving how fluent they are in a variety of musical style.

Overall, ARAGORN’s music style is a profound progressive rock that directly feels the influence of British rock in the early 70’s. By taking various style from medieval folk to symphonic rock with a jazzy flavor, they are fully expressing the dramatic and grandiose storyline of the original novel with delicacy. In order to compress situations and emotions such as mystery, magnificence, confusion and intensity contained in the original story, the composition becomes more complex and dense toward the latter part of the music.

The presence of album 'The Suite' was discovered in the process of reissuing Snakes Alive , and it is the very first release brought out to the world in nearly 50 years. 'The Suite', a vigorous performance full of energy by the young bloods who were in their 20s back then, must be the hidden masterpiece to rewrite the history of Australian Progressive Rock.

호주 프로그레시브 록의 역사를 다시 쓰게 할 숨겨진 걸작
- 아라곤의 ‘The Suite’

1975년, 커버조차 없이 단 50장만이 프레싱된 자주제작 음반 하나가 발매된다. 기타, 드럼, 베이스, 키보드에 목관악기, 그리고 트럼펫이라는 독특한 편성의 그룹, 스네익스 얼라이브 (Snakes Alive)의 유일한 앨범이었다. 극도로 적은 발매량으로 인해 거의 알려지지 않고 있던 이 앨범은 약 25년 후 해적반을 통해 비로소 그 존재를 드러낸다. 그 안에 담긴 음악은 프로그레시브 록과 재즈 록이 절묘하게 조화된 것으로, 멤버들의 출중 한 기량을 쉽게 알아챌 수 있는 높은 완성도를 지니고 있었다. 단 한 장의 앨범만을 발매하고 사라진 밴드들은 무수히 많지만 스네익스 얼라이브의 앨범은 차원이 다른 내용을 담고 있는 걸작이었다. 그럼에도 불구하고 이 앨범은 오랜 시간 동안 먼지를 뒤집어 쓴 채 호주 록의 보물 창고 깊은 곳에 잠들어 있었다.

스네익스 얼라이브라는 이름으로는 단지 1년 정도 활동했을 뿐이지만, 계보를 살펴보면 그들의 역사는 1972년 결성된 그룹 아라곤 (Aragorn) 으로 거슬러 올라간다. 스네익스 얼라이브처럼 레코딩 작업에만 몰두했던 아라곤은 정규 앨범을 발매하지는 못했지만, 앨범 분량의 녹음을 남겼고, 그것이 지금 여러분이 듣고 있는 앨범이자 동명 타이틀의 조곡 'The Suite'이다. 건반주자 올렉 디트리히(Oleg Ditrich)가 중심이 되어 작곡한 이 43분짜리 대곡 ‘The Suite’는 다름아닌 톨킨의 소설 ‘반지의 제왕’을 모티브로 한 것이다.

전체적으로 70년대 초반 브리티쉬 록의 영향이 직접적으로 느껴지는 중후한 프로그레시브 록으로, 중세 포크에서부터 재즈적 향취를 지닌 심포닉록까지 여러 형식을 두루 끌어와 원작 소설이 지닌 장대한 스토리를 음악적으로 고스란히 표현해 내고 있다.

스네익스 얼라이브의 앨범을 재발매하는 과정에서 마스터테입의 존재가 발견되면서, 아라곤의 이 앨범은 두껍게 쌓였던 먼지를 털어내고 50년 만에 비로소 음반화될 수 있었다. 젊은 뮤지션들의 패기만만한 열정과 번쩍이는 창작열로 가득한 이 작품은 다소 빈약했던 호주 프로그레시브 록의 역사를 다시 쓰게할 숨겨진 걸작이라고 확신한다.