Oaksenham: Beautiful, convincing and exciting music

According to Prog achieves there are six prog band coming from Armenia. It is most likely more bands that PA not has discovered yet. The best band I have heard from Armenia is Oaksenham and the appeared first time around 2000. The band Oaksenham raised from the ashes of another Armenian band, Dumberton Oaks.

Two ex-members of Dumberton Oaks the bass player Vahagn Papayan and drummer Ashot Korganyan formed Oaksenham and in 2006 the band released their debut Conquest Of The Pacific was the name. Unfortunate 12 years should pass before the sophomore release Upon All Living And Dead was recorded recently.. The band’s music is mostly instrumental and a very melodic blending of symphonic prog and Armenian folk with touches of jazz and even much more.

In addition to the mentioned Papayan and Korganyan there are three other vital musician. They all plays an important role in the sonic aspect of Oaksenham. Vardan Gasparyan – electric and acoustic guitars, Vardan Harutyunyan – keyboards, Grand piano, electronic effects, Aram Asatryan – violin. Specially the violin is an important instrument.

Upon All Living And Dead is in my opinion a breathtaking album. Oaksenham is heading into it’s neo-classical chamber rock in the vein of the unnamed pioneers, maybe even more of the likewise legendary Gryphon. Compared to that, their recently published work Upon All the Living And The Dead exhibits a more marked rock edge, pushing the sound unequivocally towards fusion, probably due to the main songwriting duties having shifted from Vahagn Papayan to Vardan Harutyunyan and Vardan Gasparyan. Two of the songs even feature vocals, brilliantly performed by guest singer Shushan Petrosyan. Favorite track is probably Muse with the voice of Petrosyan.

Link:
Bandcamp