Mats Bender, together with his wife Anna, is the guiding mind of one of my favourite bands, Introitus from Sweden, and I was, in fact, fortunate enough to be given an interview with them in 2011, and you can view this by clicking at https://lazland.org/interviews/new-portfolio-item
Mats has provided us at Progzilla Radio with his 2024 release, Renaissance Part One, which is available on all major streaming platforms (e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/3MVZ7aNTm8t77h3QPUZQsk ). It is his reworking of old music from 1978 to 1986, and all of it serves to protect, and indeed, enhance his reputation as a highly respected and creative keyboardist/composer.
We have eight pieces of music here, a delightful collection.
Aphrodite starts us off, the title referencing that minx of a Greek Goddess, responsible for love, sex, beauty, pleasure, you name it. The lovely voice of Anna enters early, her incredible range nicely supporting some bright and senses-filling notes in a piece you can imagine yourself transported to an ancient temple and the devotees playing and crying if they had had access to such technology. A strong, dramatic, and sunshine imbued start to proceedings, full of life.
The Far East follows, a part of our planet as far away culturally and climatically from Mat’s homeland as it is possible to get. Strongly reminiscent to these ears of classic Vangelis (and Bender deserves to be mentioned in the same breath), this is a brooding work, with a strong undercurrent of a rhythm, towering chords flying above in the spirit of the region. It is embedded below for you. I have listened to this several times now, and I don’t think I am anywhere near unlocking all its secrets. Each time brings me a different listening and understanding experience, not unlike, of course, the mysteries of the region, so Bender has done a fine job in putting them to a musical travelogue.
Soulprint (For Mother) from the album Elements remains one of the finest pieces of music I have in my collection, an emotional rollercoaster which never fails to move. On this release, we have Soulsearch, a two-part epic, and Part One follows the mysteries of the east. Nearly fifteen minutes of music, this featuring son Mattias Bender on drums and programming. As you would expect with such a length, there is a huge amount going on here, a symphonic piece at its heart, but with elements (pardon the pun) of fusion deeply embedded. The rhythm and some of the effects in the first section are, in fact, like that of Soulprint, so I wonder whether Mats borrowed from this older recording for that masterpiece? There is much questing in the mid-passage, the search for self, the synths reaching out into the ether, and some of it, incidentally, is not overly warm, a battle for the true self being played out, very dramatically in parts, this exemplified by the chants and voice towards the close before giving way to a delicate Hammond. A rollercoaster of a musical ride which grips the listener from start to finish.
The next track takes us to the opposite side of the planet to The Far East, namely Peru, so Bender is certainly giving us a decent world tour on this. Again featuring Anna with her unique voice and some dramatic male chants, the (I believe) Charango bringing to mind the classic El Condor Pasa, and the whole piece again gives you something different about the region each time you listen to it, but I especially like the simple drumbeats underneath Anna’s chants, the piece combining a host of instruments and sounds to bring the picture of a group dancing and chanting round and around an object of worship in the mountains of that part of the world, sparse, but also rich in textures.
City Life follows. I have embedded this rather lovely piece below. It cleverly portrays both the loneliness, drama, and the excitement of an urban way of living which has never appealed to me at all. A playful piece of music.
The second part of Soulsearch follows. It is over fourteen minutes long, and therefore the whole piece presents us with an uber-epic of thirty minutes. The opening passage is mysterious, but three minutes in we get an explosion of sound before settling into a very thoughtful mix of piano and soundscapes, the traveller continuing his journey, encountering inner truths and experiencing external sensations, with the music occasionally resembling a sort of military campaign, or march, which, of course, many monastic orders (and we have Gregorian chants here) based themselves upon. As we move to the closing segment, a sense of chaos descends upon us, before the final movement elevates us to the moment of truth, a religious experience bringing us a wall of sound before settling at the very close to the entrance to the hereafter, rain washing over us, cleansing us of sin.
Breaking Out is far shorter, a track I think is a kind of homage to Mr Oldfield and his bells, expansive in parts.
The Rainbow (My Brother) closes proceedings for us. It is not far short of epic length, so we have certainly had our money’s worth on this album. The piano piece which opens is achingly pretty, highlighting the classical sensibilities of the musician. The second movement again reminds one of Vangelis, particularly around the Heaven & Hell period, this carrying with it a deceptive simplicity in the playing, the upper reaches of the soundscapes particularly lovely, to say nothing of his lovely wife’s incredible voice rising above in a series of voices oozing with affection.
Bender informs us that he is now working on a new Introitus album, hopefully to be released in 2025, and I, for one, cannot wait. I think that he and his family-led band are an act I am genetically pre-disposed to enjoy, and this album is a sheer delight to listen to, a collection of instrumental tracks which demand attention, and reward in turn.