(Folkprog, Celtic, Progmetal) Ashtar - Urantia - 2002, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The Celtic Knot:

The interwoven designs derive from the Celtic culture of early Britain. The Celts, who had no written language, managed to express an enormous amount about how they saw their world through their art and craftwork.

The Celts were Druids, nature worshipers, who were convinced that all things in Nature are connected and interdependent; the plants, the animals, the earth and its forces, and themselves. Their visual expression of this belief often featured stylized animals intertwined like vines, in complex, unbroken knots, without beginning or end.

As Christianity spread throughout Britain, it absorbed much of the Celtic culture and style. Because religious artwork featuring animals was considered pagan by the early missionaries, Celtic interweavings gradually became simplified into the exquisite knotted-ribbon designs you see today, without animal heads or feet.

This concept of profound interdependence, expressed by the ancient Celtic interweavings, is perhaps even more relevant to those who are seeking an appropriate symbol for marriage.

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Overall, with Urantia, Ashtar have produced an enjoyable album of Celtic-flavoured progressive rock, which is bound to find flavour with fans of the likes of Mostly Autumn and Karnataka

The members of Ashtar have dedicated their debut album "Urantia" to "God, (the one and only) Ashtar (Goddess Ashtar, I imagine), and all spiritual beings and entities" of all seen and unseen worlds of the universe (as I imagine again). (...) are the leaders of a real Progressive Folk Rock / Metal. I heartily recommend "Urantia" to everyone from Progressive Rock's 'classic' camp but those who can't tolerate roars even in small doses.

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Ashtar is a band with great instrumentation and great Celtic Music passages. The surprise about this band is that they are from South America, from a small region of Brazil. Their style is similar to bands like Karnataka or Mostly Autumn, but there are some musical landscapes a la Haggard or The Provenance. In terms of Songwriting, pieces like "Children of The Mist" and "Urantia" have it all! Loud-soft-loud instrumental transitions with great female, male and demon vocals. "Oblivious Scars" is a heavier song with lots of electric guitar distortions and angry chords. Their lyrics are very...let's say...Esotheric. Themes are old Celtic beliefs and Elvish tales. If there's a piece i'm in love with, that must the mythological interlude "Druid Dream". In short: A very recommendable piece for Progressive Rock fans and Folk lovers.

Brazilian proggers playing Celtic (!) progressive folklore, tales about old celtic believes, elves, ethereal flute and bewitching female vocals. The electronics are thankfully VERY sparse, virtuosity on the guitars, violin and flutes/whistles is in the foreground. Wow! Fernanda Mesquita (vocalist) is an angel.

Think about a Brazilian kind of Iona or Karnataka, they even throw in occasional trace elements of angry metal like death-growls (but they fit perfectly into the music), contrasted by bagpipes, "Amazing Grace" and those angelic vocals.

01 - An Oidche Dhorcha.flac
02 - Urantia.flac
03 - Arriving At Skye.flac
04 - Druid Dream.flac
05 - Amazing Grace.flac
06 - Children Of The Mist.flac
07 - The Misty Dawn.flac
08 - Oblivious Scars.flac
09 - The First Star.flac
10 - Nemesis.flac
11 - Madainn Trath.flac
Artwork
Ashtar - Urantia_flac.m3u
Ashtar - Urantia_wav.m3u
tau.txt
Thumb.jpg
Urantia.cue
Urantia.log
Artwork\Back_inside.jpg
Artwork\Back_outside.jpg
Artwork\Booklet001-012.jpg
Artwork\Booklet001.jpg
Artwork\Booklet002.jpg
Artwork\Booklet003.jpg
Artwork\Booklet004.jpg
Artwork\Booklet005.jpg
Artwork\Booklet006-007.jpg
Artwork\Booklet008.jpg
Artwork\Booklet009.jpg
Artwork\Booklet010.jpg
Artwork\Booklet011.jpg
Artwork\Booklet012.jpg
Artwork\CD.jpg

EAC extraction logfile from 21. April 2005, 20:52 for CD
Ashtar / Urantia

Used drive : PLEXTOR CD-R PREMIUM Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 30
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No

Used output format : C:\Program Files\EAC\flac.exe (User Defined Encoder)
128 kBit/s
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" -T "comment=EAC Flac 1.1.1 -8" %s

Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Installed external ASPI interface

Track 1
Filename D:\WAVE\01 - An Oidche Dhorcha.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC D6B58152
Copy CRC D6B58152
Copy OK

Track 2
Filename D:\WAVE\02 - Urantia.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 72285638
Copy CRC 72285638
Copy OK

Track 3
Filename D:\WAVE\03 - Arriving At Skye.wav

Peak level 93.3 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 74E4E871
Copy CRC 74E4E871
Copy OK

Track 4
Filename D:\WAVE\04 - Druid Dream.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC BF135C48
Copy CRC BF135C48
Copy OK

Track 5
Filename D:\WAVE\05 - Amazing Grace.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 0447A6DB
Copy CRC 0447A6DB
Copy OK

Track 6
Filename D:\WAVE\06 - Children Of The Mist.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC F6EDD1F4
Copy CRC F6EDD1F4
Copy OK

Track 7
Filename D:\WAVE\07 - The Misty Dawn.wav

Peak level 81.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3115AEF9
Copy CRC 3115AEF9
Copy OK

Track 8
Filename D:\WAVE\08 - Oblivious Scars.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3C076E77
Copy CRC 3C076E77
Copy OK

Track 9
Filename D:\WAVE\09 - The First Star.wav

Peak level 79.4 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 07929409
Copy CRC 07929409
Copy OK

Track 10
Filename D:\WAVE\10 - Nemesis.wav

Peak level 96.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A56A0150
Copy CRC A56A0150
Copy OK

Track 11
Filename D:\WAVE\11 - Madainn Trath.wav

Peak level 66.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 76A1A5BF
Copy CRC 76A1A5BF
Copy OK

No errors occured

End of status report

1251841305 21843068 01 - An Oidche Dhorcha.wav
1233028607 129073100 02 - Urantia.wav
249513196 10753388 03 - Arriving At Skye.wav
3502126832 41778620 04 - Druid Dream.wav
232057095 28969628 05 - Amazing Grace.wav
2052404074 93781340 06 - Children Of The Mist.wav
634081486 11811788 07 - The Misty Dawn.wav
1486407932 101406524 08 - Oblivious Scars.wav
668475833 12460940 09 - The First Star.wav
2333848239 115088108 10 - Nemesis.wav
2020731355 51704060 11 - Madainn Trath.wav

auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
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Processing file: [01 - An Oidche Dhorcha.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [02 - Urantia.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 99%

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Processing file: [03 - Arriving At Skye.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [04 - Druid Dream.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [05 - Amazing Grace.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [06 - Children Of The Mist.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 99%

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Processing file: [07 - The Misty Dawn.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [08 - Oblivious Scars.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [09 - The First Star.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [10 - Nemesis.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Processing file: [11 - Madainn Trath.wav]

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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

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Final Conclusion:
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These tracks looks like CDDA with probability 100%