Nautilus

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2026
Two years after their last album, which was highly praised by the music press and fans, NAUTILUS are back with their new work, ‘A Castle Full Of Secrets’. This time, the journey takes the Nauticians to Eastern Europe, more precisely to the Carpathian Mountains. There, on a storm-tossed plateau, stand the ruins of an ancient castle. But what dark secret do the walls hold? Fans of the writer Jules Verne (1828-1905) will already have guessed: the tenth NAUTILUS album is once again based on a novel by the French author. This time, the German band led by Martin Ludwig has taken on the 1892 novel ‘The Carpathian Castle’ and set it to music. The result is eleven new songs that deal primarily with Verne's novel, but as usual also leave room for individual thoughts. Ludwig's dreamy sounds, sometimes elegiacally flowing, sometimes energetically pulsating, repeatedly meet the compositions of his fellow musicians Jürgen Dürrbeck (synthesizer & sequencer) and Werner Strätz (electric guitar). Voices, such as those of singer Meiko Weigel (bass, vocals, samples) or Elmar Darimont in the intro, are used sparingly; instrumental passages are clearly in the foreground on this album. Anyone who has accompanied the band on their journey through electroacoustic soundscapes so far can close their eyes and let themselves go with ‘A Castle Full Of Secrets’ with a clear conscience: NAUTILUS are as retro as it gets, without ever seeming old-fashioned or degenerating into mere copies of their musical idols (whose influences are unmistakable). Welcome aboard!

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2022
Two years after the acclaimed band followed in the footsteps of Captain Nemo beneath the seas with their comeback album, The Mystery Of Waterfalls, Nautilus return to the surface with their eighth studio album, A Floating City.
Based on Jules Verne's semi-fictional travelogue "A Floating City" (1871), in which the "Great Eastern" sets off from Liverpool on its great voyage to the new world, Nautilus transpose the theme into the bitter reality of the present. The band refines their musical concept on the new album with the same line-up, but with expanded instruments and vocals. Once again, the symbiosis of their influences from the 70s (Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream) succeeds in creating their own unmistakable style. Ecstatic guitar parts in the finale of the almost 15-minute key track "The Great Eastern", pulsating psychedelic sequences, highly emotional folk echoes and surprising new facets and twists result in an incredibly varied, intense and highly melodic album with a wonderful flow. Grobschnitt co-founder and mastering expert Eroc, who also contributed a small but effective surprise to the departure of the floating city, once again ensured the good sound. From the very beginning, Nautilus designed their albums based on the great novels of the French visionary Jules Verne.

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2008
This album certainly uses electronics in abundance as we have two dedicated keyboard players but we also have two guitarists. Guitar is certainly the main feature on the opener 'Winding Road' where the most lovely acoustic guitar melody is played with feeling over tranquil pads. This is excellent stuff, with real style, getting the album off to a first rate start. Then we get onto the second track 'Free Flying Spirits' where electronics are much more to the fore with its driving rhythms, sequence and synth washes. As with the opener, guitar provides the lead as the plucked melody gently floats from the speakers. Simply gorgeous. I hope the band are just playing with us here as it would be a shame if this was their last album as they just get better all the time (this album being the highlight of their output thus far). Musically the track, for most of its duration, is rather sad but there is a slight uplifting of the mood within the last couple of minutes, so you never know. It is obvious that the album is telling a story, has some sort of concept behind it, but I suppose the interpretation is down to the listener. Above all though this is a wonderful melodic instrumental album, the genre in which it is placed really isn't important. It should have wide appeal.

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2004
German electronic music group Nautilus comes back for their third album on Prudence with a changed line-up and a slightly modified sound. While their debut album "Solar Moon" and its successor "North Pole Pilgrim" presented a very special blend of electronics, spacy rock and world music, the new album puts more emphasis on the spheric rock in the tradition of Tangerine Dream or Pink Floyd, and less on the ethnic elements. The guitar style of Werner Strätz, strongly influenced by Dave Gilmour and Peter Green, now plays a more dominant role, balancing Martin Ludwig's complex keyboard and synthie work. New member Ralf Weiden congenially adapts to the homogenous sound of the group.
As it has already been the case on "North Pole Pilgrim", two epic compositions ("Time To Turn" and the title track) build the cornerstones of the new album "In Search Of Castaways", nine other tracks are grouped around them. All of these compositions convince with beautiful melodies and well-crafted harmony. Once more Nautilus impressively combine great space rock traditions with the exploration of new sonic territory, making "In Search Of Castaways" a timelessly atttractive record.

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2001
The album is split into three "phases" with each subdivided into separate tracks. The first section starts with windy type ambient effects through which a melodic loop just manages to hold in there. A rhythm starts up and we begin to get into a very pleasant groove. At five minutes we have a rather good staccato melody followed by another which is a lot deeper and rumbling. Both melodies then meld together to form an easy on the ear but also driving track. Its a good opener which will have great appeal to everyone except those that like their music of the ambient persuasion. Its with relief that we enter the next sub section, the longest track on the album at almost fourteen minutes. Its very much a return to form. It begins with a melodic loop over soft pads. A beautifully stroked electric guitar lead floats over the top. Its a very tranquil number, ideal for lazing to on a Sunday afternoon. At around the half way mark it does become somewhat more urgent as the guitar playing steps up a gear but it could hardly be called a thrash, just triumphant happy playing. Its a lovely track and will appeal to almost anyone. The final piece gets into a relaxed groove with half heard vocal samples in the background. The piano lead is almost jazzy but combines well with yet more enjoyable guitar playing. We are again bordering on "Stilton" but just manage to avoid it. Relax and be happy.

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2000
The album is split into three "phases" with each subdivided into separate tracks. The first section starts with windy type ambient effects through which a melodic loop just manages to hold in there. A rhythm starts up and we begin to get into a very pleasant groove. At five minutes we have a rather good staccato melody followed by another which is a lot deeper and rumbling. Both melodies then meld together to form an easy on the ear but also driving track. Its a good opener which will have great appeal to everyone except those that like their music of the ambient persuasion. Its with relief that we enter the next sub section, the longest track on the album at almost fourteen minutes. Its very much a return to form. It begins with a melodic loop over soft pads. A beautifully stroked electric guitar lead floats over the top. Its a very tranquil number, ideal for lazing to on a Sunday afternoon. At around the half way mark it does become somewhat more urgent as the guitar playing steps up a gear but it could hardly be called a thrash, just triumphant happy playing. Its a lovely track and will appeal to almost anyone. The final piece gets into a relaxed groove with half heard vocal samples in the background. The piano lead is almost jazzy but combines well with yet more enjoyable guitar playing. We are again bordering on "Stilton" but just manage to avoid it. Relax and be happy. 

Here the original first Nautilus version!

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2020
With "The Mystery Of Waterfalls" Nautilus is a great ear flatterer who skilfully comes up with the right mix of electronics and psychedelic guitar licks in perfect choreography and great song writing. In addition the usual professional handwriting of Eroc. Nothing stands in the way of an early dream journey via the overhead cinema.

Artist: Nautilus
P: 2024
On their 8th studio album, the men from NAUTILUS are once again following in the footsteps of the French fantasy author Jules Verne, around two years after their great album “A Floating City”, to the locations of his novel “Around the World in 80 Days”. The listener can expect an acoustic world tour between progressive rock, art rock and Berlin school. Lovers of epic long tracks will get their money's worth as will fans of short and crisp pop songs. Once again, the symbiosis of their influences from the 70s (Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream) succeeds in creating their own unmistakable style.
Grobschnitt co-founder and mastering expert EROC once again ensured the good sound.
 

Artist: F.D. Project, Erbe, Robert Schroeder,Volt, Mythos, Negraszus u.a.
P: 2021
Here the 24th CD of the german Schallwende club. Unique tracks by the artists.