Az ördög álarcosbálja

Album Summary

Syrius was one of the most influential Hungarian progressive rock/jazz-rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were founded in Budapest in 1962 by saxophonist Zsolt Baronits. At first, the band played fairly standard beat music and dance music inspired by Western groups like The Beatles. But after several lineup changes, Syrius reinvented itself around 1970 into a highly experimental jazz-rock fusion group combining progressive rock, jazz improvisation, blues, and psychedelic elements. One unusual feature of the band was that they often played without electric guitar, relying instead on horns, organ, bass, and complex rhythmic arrangements. In 1970 they developed a new jazz-rock sound that became legendary in Hungary’s underground music scene. An Australian promoter discovered them, leading to tours in Australia where they became surprisingly successful. Their best-known album, The Devil’s Masquerade (released in Hungary as Az ördög álarcosbálja), came out in 1971 and is now considered a landmark Eastern European progressive rock album.

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