Middle Earth Ensemble
listening to their
Debut CD
No, they arent Tolkien-heads jamming out all dressed up as Uruk Hai and Dwarves and what not (even tho you know that wouldnt bother me if they were!)
No, their definition of "middle earth" is:
Looking at Earth from Space, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe all come together in the Mediterranean, literally meaning the "Middle-Earth".....
I saw them perform at Lestat's coffehouse here in San Diego last night, they were really good. Tho much of the metal I listen to (particularly Therion) has a lot of this type of middle eastern flavor to it, however Ive never really sat down and gave this type of music a serious listen. I was suprised how much liked it, this was a really good band!
Then out came the belly dancers.....
I also strangely enough was getting a lot of RPG vibes in this music. Seriously! I felt like I was in some sort of weird RPG cantina or something. It was dimly lit except for the performers. The ganesh cones were going, the ancient-sounding tune being played (and quite loudly over amps) by sitar, flute, drum, mandolin, etc in full swing. Bejeweled dancer writhing to the beat, glistening with sweat....
Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway of course) I think that I'll be seeing another one of their shows soon, I need to turn some friends on to this one. I frequent a couple of the local coffeehouses they regularly play at, just have never been at the right place and time I guess.