One of my all-time favourite groups QNTAL has recently released a new album called "Ozymandias". QNTAL is known for their advantgardistic combination of medieval music with electronic sound. The medieval background is easily explained if you note that two of the three QNTAL members are well-known from the medieval ensemble Estampie.
Since I've just seen QNTAL live at WGT 2005, I wasn't expecting too much of the new album. IIRC they were playing three songs of the new album, of which one was the usual QNTAL style, the other two were way to "normal" for my taste.
Now that I've received my latest EUR180 CD order [seems like I'll be again spending more money on CD's this year], I'm amazed by this exceptional new album.
I think the songs can be grouped in three categories. One category (e.g. Flamma, Noit E Dia, )is what I would consider the "usual QNTAL style", which is in the spirit of the first two albums. However, I think it can be clearly recognized that it's no longer Ernst Horn at the synthesizers, and sometimes the digital effects just sound too "digital" compared to the old stuff.
The second group (e.g. All for one, Flow), reminds me a lot to the style of the "Futura" album of Cosmic Baby from about a decade ago. A single classical female singer dominating the overall sound, accompanied by electronic background sound. No strong percussion.
The third group (e.g. Amor Volat) sounds way more "normal" than the other QNTAL stuff. Saying this is not a negative judgement, merely an explanation of how I perceive the sound. More specifically: Less medieval influence, regular percussion, E-guitars, standard "wave" style rhythm.
My personal favorites of the new album are definitely the songs of "group two", i.e. All for one, Flow, Remember Me.