Aethellis - Aethellis

Re: 'Hubris' - The song remained in the Broadjam.com Progressive Rock Top 10 chart for 6 months, debuting at #1 on March 23, 2003. It also appeared in the Rock (#7), Maryland (#1) and Mid-Atlantic (#5) Top 10 charts. 'The result of this debut was one magnificent work of symphonic rock that transmits an optimism beyond the common.....Very recommended and essential in your progressive library.' - Descubre La Caja Pandora 'You like progressive music with influences from cult bands such as Genesis, Yes and others? Then Aethellis is for you! Aethellis is a mix of all the best things available in the prog world.' - Radio Metal Keyboardist/composer Ellsworth Hall took the Olde English antecedent of his first name ('Aethellis-worth') and has used it for his own project Aethellis, on which he plays all the instruments (keyboards, guitar, digi-drums/acoustic drum loops) and sings all the vocals. Taking the traditional elements of progressive rock, Aethellis blends them with contemporary rhythms, sounds and styles. 'Hubris,' a song from the Aethellis album debuted on March 23rd, 2003 in four Broadjam Top 10 Charts: Rock, Progressive Rock (at #1), Maryland (at #1) and Mid-Atlantic. It remained in the Progressive Rock chart for 6 months. More Reviews: This sounds like the album Tony Banks should have made after A Curious Feeling. In fact a lot of this would fit well on Genesis' 1980s albums as proggier pieces. - Kinesis CD This is one of those albums that I was tempted to dismiss on first listening as being too 'pop' or too 'superficial' to be taken seriously. After 2 or 3 listenings the layers started to emerge and the true beauty of the music started to become obvious! - ZNR records This project with a silly name is the brainchild of a single man named Ellsworth R. Hall. Many people would not give it a second thought. That would be their mistake. The album is the rare stone overturned that reveals a bounty of new revelations. The album is enjoyable and quite an achievement for a sole musician. It is surprising this individual has gone undetected. This album really deserves some attention. - Josh Turner for The Music Street Journal Aethellis surprised me with the music in this recording. Ellsworth Hall is the brain behind Aethellis and his trademark sound are the keyboards that start from the first second of the recording to create interesting melodies. And this melodies are sometimes more easy listening, sometimes more twisted but they always have an interesting progressive sound which I liked a lot. Ellsworth´s vocals are soft and melodic giving some of the compositions a hit format with memorable choruses. Most of the compositions here are long and I think that Aethellis develops carefully the music in such extension where he has place for developing all the ideas that the music here has. There is a seventies feeling here but with a much more modern sound that makes the music sound updated. This is pure melody full of interesting ideas. - Federico Marongiu for Music Extreme Even if there is an Aethellis touring band, on the CD all the music and singing comes from one man : Ellsworth R. Hall. He plays all instruments but his main focus is on the keyboards. Listening to Aethellis brings me back about twenty years. Even though at times, some twists and turns make it obvious that this album is from the new millenium, there is always, in my opinion, a strong early 80's feel about this music. In the letter sent to me with this promotional CD, Ellsworth Hall describes his music as Neo. I don't really agree because I do not hear much Marillion - IQ - Arena... in there, these bands being usually associated with the Neo sub genre of Progressive Rock. The main influence I detect is Tony Banks, mainly his more progressive pieces from his solo albums. Hall's playing reminds me much more of Banks than of Wakeman or Emerson for example. Most of the songs on Aethellis would fit well on a Banks album, consisting mainly of a song based part followed by an instrumental section featuring a lot of keyboard soloing. A few exceptions, the beginning of Saint Augustus has a stong UK feel and Djibouti is an instrumental that somewhat reminds me of In that Quiet Earth from Genesis' Wind & Weathering. As a singer Ellsworth Hall sounds a bit like Steve Hackett (another Genesis reference). His voice is not very powerfull but it is nice and he does not push it over it's limit. I have truly enjoyed listening to this album and will put it again in my player. Hopefully Aethellis will find it's audience even though 80's inspired prog is not really the flavor of the day. There are sound samples on their website and the band plans on doing some touring in the east coast U.S. in early 2004. Check them out. - Marc Roy for ProGGnosis Aethellis' music is more like a cross between Tony Banks, Alan Parsons and Rick Wakeman - Lise (Hibou), The Prog Archives Ellsworth Hall is the man responsible for the progressive rock band Aethellis, which got it's name from the Old English antecedent of his first name 'Aethellis-worth'. I have to appreciate anyone who can pick up and excel at a variety of different instruments. And that's just what he does throughout the six songs on this album. While this is pretty much your standard progressive rock effort it's not something you just shrug off. The piano tune on 'Hubris' totally makes this album. - J-Sin for Smother.Net Ellsworth Hall is an amazing multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. As a vocalist, he can be compared to the likes of Greg Lake and John Wetton.His music firmly lies somewhere between classic progressive rock and art rock camps. Although most of the compositions have a pop vibe to it, Ellsworth utilizes the longer song format to stay clear of being labeled mainstream. The Aethellis style is very melodic based and the keyboard is the main instrument in all songs. The only draw back is the drums or rather 'digi-drums' but Ellsworth is the first one-man band to admit to using them. SO kudos to him and maybe he'll hook-up with a real drummer for the next release. This is 'Aethellis' ' debut CD and with six tracks in various lengths, the CD clocks in around 48 minutes. Which to me is a perfect length for a debut. My favorite songs are: 'Tie and Handkerchief' and 'Final Affinity' Another highly recommendable release for 2003. - Ron Fuchs for ProgNaut.com I think most of our customers agree with that most 'one man bands' tend to be a bit boring. Well, Aethellis is a one man band, but not at all boring. Logos Affinity keyboardist Ellsworth Hall plays keyboards, guitar and sings. The drums are of course programmed, but in a very tasteful way, and could just as well been the real thing. The music lies somewhere between Alan Parsons Project and Camel. Well crafted songs and Mr. Hall has also put a lot of effort into the production and arrangements. - The Missing Piece Let me say that this album touched me in so many ways. Aethellis manages to mix a decent blend on concept and melody with a synth / groove / layering of keys that had me wondering who I was listening to. There is very early Genesis, mid life Asia and a more recent John Young all included with his own brand of reality that has resulted in a truly very good album. 1. Tie and Handkerchief Great opening, atmospheric leading to what? Nice piano the a nice groove and synth with Geoff Downes overlays and a great contribution to the prog rock world. More of it I say. It isn't rushed with vocals or changes of instrumental sounds in the first few minutes. It's allowed to flow. A real drummer could have helped but the effort of 'digi drums' (and percussion?!?!?) is as good as I've heard. Nice layering of sounds in the vocal breaks... did real well without a real guitarist. Great finish which leads to... 2. Saint Augustus This track moved me. More church organ - HA!! Was this studio or produced it somewhere else?? Unfortunately the vocals were a bit too even here but the chorus really got going which helped l