Ancient tales are amazing, and they do just enough to get you depressed if you’re one of the people who believe individuals have progressed to a marvelous extent. Yes, those tales are usually told in a jargon that few can decipher anymore. Yet, once it is translated, it reveals something shocking about both bygone and modern eras.
The challenges that individuals face are the same. Their quest for answers through spirituality or acts of valor is the same. And apart from a few glitzy gadgets, the rewards that they stand to get once they triumph are the same.
Lopez & Arevalos dig very deeply into the past on their album “TELEION.” Their work, released through the record label Tunitemusic, is not consigned to interpreting old music. They translate music from ancient Greece for audiences who may have no idea what it is supposed to sound like.
And, since Lopez & Arevalos mean for this to be more than an academic exercise, they consider a modern audience’s listening needs and expectations. This is music that has survived the avalanche of time, but it is interpreted in a way in which brand-new listeners may still strike an immediate connection.
You shouldn’t be able to take the “TELEION” album in the same way that you would a regular pop-rock record. But, in many ways, because of the interpretation, the sequencing, and the mix, you actually can. In fact, most psychedelic pop-rock acts would kill for something as engulfing as opener “Orestes (408 BC)” or as emotionally engaging as “Second Delphic Hymn to Apollo (128 BC).”
Studies have shown that histories that do not get documented in written form tend to disappear after 2-3 generations. The same is true for music, albeit with an added layer of complexity. The ancient Greek music that Lopez & Arevalos are presenting here needed not only to be deciphered. It was also carefully curated and required the appropriate interpretation. All of these things keep it alive.
And, indeed, the interpretation is the magic ingredient here. Listening to these pieces could easily feel like a long history class held in a foreign language. Instead, the playing and especially the pitch-perfect, emotional vocal rendition create a bridge that’s easy for listeners of any experience to tread down on.
Where does it all leave us? Intrigued but not confused. Lopez & Arevalos do achieve their goal of keeping this ancient Greek music alive. But the 12-song selection does get tiresome. Their performances and crisp mix make the collection sound like a relative to the kind of esoteric folk practiced by bands Wardruna or Ulver. Just better. Just tested through the centuries. And just less of a fantasy than what other musicians who like to gaze into the past may be able to produce.
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