Oaksenham - Woden’s Eve Live (Demo CD)

First there was Artsruni and now comes Oaksenham from Armenia, a country not known for its classic rock input. It seems that Oaksenham are a younger band than Artsruni but sound as if they have been preparing and playing for years and are the natural inheritors of the prog-rock crown in Armenia once the experienced Artsruni move aside.

The band is made of Vahagn Papayan on bass, Anna Adamyan on keyboards, Valeri Tolstov on flute and keyboards, Vardan Gasparyan on guitars, Koryun Bobikyan on violin and percussions and Ashot Korganyan on drums. They come together to provide some impressive instrumental workouts that more than holds its own with the prog-rock heard outside its borders.

They cite Gentle Giant, King Crimson and Focus as influences and it is there for all to hear as they play intelligently and with purpose. They even manage a tribute to Gentle Giant with “Talybont/Three Friends” – bet the guys in Wales don’t know there’s a band in Armenia playing tributes to them. They do an amazingly wonderful job wit