Apurímac II: Return to Ancient America is an album by German andean new age

Andean New Age

Andean New Age is a product of Peruvian flute and Paraguayan harp music. The Peruvian roots stem from the Inca influence circa 1200–1532 CE. In Peru, two important flutes are used: The quena, a flute much like the common recorder; and the zampoña, a pan flute. The Paracas culture, located south...

 band Cusco

Cusco (band)

The following note applies to many of the individual album pages as well, though they are not individually tagged:Cusco is a German andean new age band named after the Peruvian city of Cusco, which at one time was the capital city of the ancient Incan Empire...

, released in 1994 on the Higher Octave

Higher Octave

Higher Octave is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions, which is part of EMI's Blue Note Records label group, located in New York.Higher Octave was founded in 1986 as an independent record label specializing in a wide variety of uplifting music, including smooth jazz, New Age music, Latin music...

 music label. The album peaked at #8 on the Billboard Top New Age albums chart.

It is second in the Apurímac series, and contains native Central American and South American sounds reincarnated with a very modern European musical touch, and has a much more lush, contemporary sound than the first Apurimac

Apurimac (album)

Apurimac is an album by the German andean new age band Cusco. Though their sound has certainly matured over the years, this was the breakout album by the band, garnering their first major international success with its release on the Higher Octave music label.The album was originally written in...

album, or other Cusco albums in general. Sounds of ancient American civilizations like Maya

Maya civilization

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

, Inca and Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

 are represented, and the orchestral touches remind of the then recent Cusco 2000 and Cusco 2002 albums, though on this album they are used more sparingly. This album is also a commercial high watermark in the band's career, selling more copies overall than any other Cusco

Cusco

Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...

 album. The track "Montezuma" was featured as bumper music

Bumper music

Bumper music, or a bump, is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to refer to short clips of signature or theme music used to buffer transitions between programming elements. Bumper music is commonly employed when a syndicated program takes a break for local station identification or...

 on Coast to Coast AM

Coast to Coast AM

Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...

, and was also used for a Bud Ice television commercial. Some versions of this album have the final track titled as "Temple of the Forgotten".

Track listing

1. "Montezuma"
2. "Quetzal's Feather"
3. "Dance of the Sun Priest"
4. "Tula"
5. "Yucatán"
6. "Xul-Kan, King of Palenque"
7. "Maya Temple"
8. "Mexica"
9. "Goddess of the Moon"
10. "Temple of Remembrance"

Album credits

• Matt Marshall – Executive producer
• Kristian Schultze
  Kristian Schultze
  Kristian Schultze was one half of the German New Age band Cusco. Schultze has partnered up with Michael Holm and the two have produced numerous new age albums...
  
   – Arranger, programming
• Dan Selene – Executive producer
• Joseph L. Steiner III – Digital remastering
• Murry Whiteman – Design
• Dee Westlund – Art direction
• Frank Von Dem – Bottlenburg mixing
• Michael Holm
  Michael Holm
  Michael Holm is a German singer, musician, songwriter and producer.He is primarily known as a Schlager singer. Although his first appearance in the hit parade was in 1962 , he had his first big hit in 1969...
  
  – Producer, mixing
• Cusco – Main performer