Sordid reviews.

Ataraxia - Lost Atlantis (cruel moon)
Ataraxia are so far over to the edge of atmospheric/ethereal music that they almost fall over. While most of the music in this genre mixes classical and folk music with more modern styles, Ataraxia mainly leave out the modern stuff. Granted, keyboards, drum-machines and electric guitars do feature to a certain degree, but these merely form a backdrop to the magnificent classical vocals of Francessca Nicoli and the classical guitar of Vittorio Vandelli. It is very ironic that left of centre classical music like this ends up in an alternative genre rather than the edge of classical itself. That, in itself, speaks volumes about the open-mindedness of ethereal fans when compared to the stuffier classical enthusiasts.
Despite the fact that most of the words are indecipherable and even when they can be made out, are in Italian, Greek or Latin, the theme of the album is relatively easy to make out from the titles, 'Lost Atlantis', 'Mu-Land' and 'The land of sand of gold of ruin' - the myths of disappeared lands and islands provided the inspiration for this collection of musics. This is a delicate and uplifting album, replete with echoes of a mythical past that continues the growth and expansion of ethereal classical music.