A Progstravaganza Special: The New Generation of Prog

The artwork design by Nicki Weber and Dave Mola

This is not something you are accustomed to, I guess. In such a short time you get two compilations, but we do have really good reasons to do it.

Namely, this September will (should) be a promising month for progressive metal. First of all, we have some new albums announced which majority of fans waits impatiently (you know about which albums I am talking, right?). But that’s not all.

Nürnberg, Germany. Located on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, 170 km north of Munich, this city will be host of the first Generation Prog Festival and a place where the fans of progressive rock and metal should flock at the beginning of the fall.

Having Andromeda headlining the festival, with popular new bands like Haken and Subsignal, fusiony instrumentalists Exivious and Relocator and local talent Effloresce, Theory of Elements and Ocean Spout on the bill, this brand-new festival showcases the new generation of prog – hence the title of this compilation.

This sampler is brought to you by Michael Schetter, the man in the charge behind the festival, the bassist of Relocator and the ProgSphere’s contributor, who already wrote a lengthy introduction in the sampler’s booklet, designed by the Effloresce’s Nicki Weber and Dave Mola.

To make a long story short, check below for the download link and meet the quality which will be served on September 23rd/24th. Should I tell you to be there?

Tracklist

1. Haken – The Point Of No Return (11:26) – taken from Aquarius (Sensory Records, 2010)
2. Relocator – Aavishkar (10:30) – taken from Relocator (2010)
3. Effloresce – Sunset in the Snowdome (8:26) – taken from Shades of Fate (2009)
4. Exivious – Waves Of Thought (6:24) – taken from Exivious (2009)
5. Theory of Elements – In the End (6:39) – taken from Faces (2007)
6. To-Mera – Earthbound [bonus track] (7:28) – taken from Earthbound (2009)
7. Andromeda – Veil of Illumination (17:25) – taken from The Immunity Zone (Nightmare Records, 2008)

Total playing time: 68:18

Notes on “The New Generation of Prog” compilation

I’ve been listening to these sampler non-stop since I got it from Michael few days ago, just because it’s a damn good bunch of tracks which reflects that progressive music is still alive and beating strongly. Thus I couldn’t resist not to say a few words about the tracks we have presented here.

Systematically, Haken’s track is by default the natural opener and for that choosing this one to kick off the sampler is a smart move. Grandiose in every possible segment, being epic and developing all the way from beginning by its end, it’s a good representative of how progressive rock sounds in the 21st century.

Fusion metal is pretty new subgenre in a vast progressive field and if there are two bands at the moment which hold the primacy in the moment, then certainly these are Exivious and Relocator. Although structurally different this package will be a real delicacy for all gourmets. Effloresce and Theory of Elements with their understanding of progressive metal make it clear that there is brand new potential out there with tendency to progress further, and their two tracks show such indicatons. Speaking of To-Mera, they were announced to play the festival, but the decision was made to withdraw. Anyhow, including them on this sampler is a nice way to pay the tribute to one of the modern bringers of prog.

Andromeda

And finally we come to the centerpiece of this sampler, as well the headliner of the Generation Prog 2011 festival – the Swedish progressive metal heroes Andromeda. Including this monstrous slab of high prolific prog metal is, to put it simply, the best thing ever. Discussing the tracklist of the compilation with Michael, we agreed on that this song is among best prog metal pieces of the new millennium. ’nuff said. I’m blown away!

Mars Red Sky – Mars Red Sky

What do psychedelic pop, stoner and fuzz have in common? You wouldn’t think much, but stop for a moment and get your full attention here. There is something that wraps these three subgenres under the same flag. This something is a Bordeaux, France based trio called Mars Red Sky.

Totalling less than 40 minutes, this debut self titled achievement is a record that forces you to keep it in a repeat mode, in a nice way. Dominant in that mellow / nice way, it seems to be stoned and fuzzy only when there is even a little opportunity for it. The guitarist and singer  Julien Pras is known also as the founder of Calc, and the melodiousness which rays off from his voice tags the album as an absolutely quality release.

But, to not forget the other elements which shape the album’s entity, both Jimmy Kinast on bass and Benoit Busser on drums show a knowing look. Kinast’s loud basslines together with Julien’s guitar fuzz and Busser’s hypnotizing drumming are another highlight of Mars Red Sky. The hybrid of Todd Trainer and John Bonham behind the drumkit accompanied by Hendrix’s fuzz and Iommi/Page signature guitar sound with a slight retrospective view on Dead Meadow’s Jason Simon – and you get the clue of how Mars Red Sky sounds. That’s just a short thread of MRS presentation and certainly goes far beyond the aforementioned references.

Opening with Strong Reflection, Mars Red Sky takes the pace which is followed down by the album’s end. The amplified sound of the bass followed with mid-greasy riffs and Pras’ (I could say easily) authentic voice herald that we are maybe dealing with one of the 2011’s best newcoming releases. The bass on the album is not only doing its original role being a sibling of the drums, but also works as the extended hand of the guitar.

Up next is Curse, which opens with Busser’s sharp hits increasing the tempo after starting Strong Reflection. Pras keeps his voice in a warm high register all the time. The track ends with a wind effect which keeps going at the beginning of the upcoming Falls, reminiscent of Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs in Opeth’s performance.  I don’t know how did I come to the point of linking these two pieces, but first minute of Mars’ song makes me feel that way. It’s an instrumental (except a scream that appears in the second part) and fuzz is its bearer.

Way to Rome comes up with a southern stoned out feel, maybe because of Bordeaux’s geoposition and landscape, but other than that it’s a chop filled with groovy riffballs and, you guess, Pras’ high pitched voice. Together with Strong Reflection, this song forms the album’s spine.

Saddle Point feels like a symphonic piece with acoustic guitar taking the lead, at some moments it throws in the expectation for string instruments swim in. Yes, it’s another instrumental on the record.

Droning at the beginning of Marble Sky is not what was expected, but shows that guys do not scare of experimenting then where there’s a chance. And they know how to grab and use it. Comparing to previous songs, this particular piece brings a newness in the album’s structure. Julian’s vocals are more down to the ground, filled with bluesy smack just like the guitar solo.

Obviously with Saddle Point the band made a shift and therefore brought a sudden change to the album’s flow. The last two tracks are by SOME elements different from the other songs, but this difference is just a “strong reflection“ of the band’s freedom to perform the explorations within the subgenres.

And all this comes from a winter night in 2007, when Julian and Jimmy met in a tiny club in Bordeaux.

Tracklist:

01. Strong Reflection
02. Curse
03. Falls
04. Way to Rome
05. Saddle Point
06. Marble Sky
07. Up the Stairs

Line-up:

* Julian Pras – vocals, guitar
* Jimmy Kinast – vocals, bass
* Benoit Busser – drums

Links:

http://www.marsredsky.com/

The Cosmic Dead – Cozmik Tape I

Tell me, who else is releasing the music on cassettes anymore? Not that I am rejecting this format, on the contrary I am the fan of those “dead formats“. Anyway, this is the medium on which these Scottish psych rockers put Cozmik Tape I, released by Who Can You Trust? Records.

What we’ve got here is an 80 minute long journey through the darkest dimensions of spacey psychedelic sounds. The Side A comes up with three songs which together give forty minutes of psychedelic wanderings through space, while the Side B is one extra massive slab, totalling almost forty minutes. It’s quite dazzling that the guys keep their senses about them during the full playing time. It’s to be expected that in some parts they sound pushy, but it ain’t the case.

The raw guitar sound of James T McKay is suppressed by the usage of synths and deepend by the basswork of Omar Aborida (Infinite Death of the Godhead and Father Sky, Mother Earth) and Josh Longton (The Black Rabbit and Space Melange Spectrum). Kicking off with The Black Rabbit, followed by space gleams, The Cosmic Dead breaks the starting synth-noodling with the wah effect and loud drumming of Julian Dicken. Having a vast expanse in front of them, they are heading out to explore and experiment with jams, making them extended when the opportunity arises, but carefully enough to not fall into the field of fatigue. Now, to put it simply – The Black Rabbit is sort of a track whose questions you will you keep walking the same path on this multidimensional pilgrimage.

Spice Melange Spectrum is the shortest track on the album and comes up as the most straight ahead piece, although they manage to experiment further, dropping the time factor aside. With Infinite Death of the Godhead (which we included on Progstravaganza 7), the band gets close to Can’s approach, especially when it comes to drums. From the beginning the song has a crescendoing nature, culminating somewhere on 4′30” with the effects of space winds coming and going. This is the only track on the album which employs some vocals, which actually come as sort of a preaching (mumbling) mantra that seem a bit hypnotizing, so guess that the comparison with Can is now justified.

It’s time for the Side B and its 40 minutes allocated in a single goddamn piece. Meandering through the cosmic landscape of the starting eight minutes of Father Sky, Mother Earth brings to mind Color Haze and not a small amount of space echoing. You expect some heavy psychedelia to develop out of this introduction, but the boys keep it rather within normal limits, keeping their pace around the aforementioned heaviness. I can’t avoid comparing these Scots with their colleagues of similar genre orientation, Tia Carrera. While The Cosmic Dead relies more on a space rock sound, Tia constructs their own walls around classic riff-led/experimetal heavy jam elements, but the point where these two bands get close to each other is the same sense for improvisation. The extensiveness of this segment specifically is their main characteristic and I can’t hide my enhusiasm of how fabulous it would be to put these two outfits on the same stage.

Anyway, to stop dreaming… The Cosmic Dead with Cozmik Tape I shows clearly to which target audience their music is intended. If you recognized yourself, don’t hesitate to give them a try, nothing bad can happen. I promise you.

Tracklist:

01. The Black Rabbit
02. Spice Melange Spectrum
03. Infinite Death of the Godhead
04. Father Sky, Mother Earth

Line-up:

* James T McKay – Guitar
* Omar Aborida – Bass
* Julian Dicken – Drums
* Euan Meikle – Synths
* Lewis Cook – Synths

Links:

http://thecosmicdead.bandcamp.com/

Cloverseeds – The Opening

Progressive music fans can generally be classified into one of two categories: those who listen for the music and those who listen for the experience. While members of the former group won’t be very impressed by Cloverseeds’ The Opening, members of the latter will find that it is quite an excellent piece of work. It is an album that you will love if you’re a regular fan of its style, but don’t expect it to be one of those rare cross-genre wonders.

Cloverseeds plays progressive rock with a few elements of metal, and fans of Porcupine Tree and Riverside are apt to find something familiar in their sound. Tracks generally consist of simple dominating metal chord patterns with more complex underlying melodies. Instead of focusing on technical musicianship, each track of The Opening attempts to evoke a certain mood or feeling – and it does this quite well. Most tracks revolve around a central musical theme, but they manage to repeat themselves without feeling repetitive. Though the music is never too heavy or too relaxed, it still manages to span a wide range of musical styles, with tracks that are equal parts dark, calm, angry and passionate. It is vibrant with emotional quality, and the music is very refined – The Opening certainly has a high production quality, and the members of Cloverseeds know how to complement each other well.

That is, in fact, simultaneously The Opening’s greatest strength and greatest weakness. The music and the vocals suit each other very well, and combine to create the emotional experience that is the album’s best quality, but at points the singing sounds a bit needling. This can probably be attributed to the fact that Ced is a French vocalist attempting to sing in English, but the criticism persists nonetheless. This is by no means a constant problem – much of the time the singing is fantastic, but there are points where it is slightly unpleasant. It should be said, though, that this probably comes down to a matter of personal preference. Appreciation of vocals varies from person to person – some will like his voice, some won’t. The best you can do is listen to the clip below and decide for yourself.

Ultimately, The Opening is very well made for what it is. While those who prefer more complex melodies won’t find it enthralling, it is clear that Cloverseeds’ musicians are quite talented, and the simple nature of the music is more of a stylistic choice than an indicator of poor musicianship. The Opening did not leave much of an impression on me, but what it did leave was quite positive. It is subdued but expressive, with little technicality but a lot of feeling.

Tracklist:

1. Over Camellia – 4:02
2. Fam(L)Ar – 4:53
3. Flowers – 6:18
4. Higher – 4:02
5. Brand New Day – 5:28
6. Calling Me Down – 3:51
7. The Opening – 6:01
8. For Those – 5:42
9. Enough – 4:55

Line-up:

* Cedric – Singer
* Christophe – Drums
* Stephane – Bass Guitar
* Pierre – Guitar
* Fabrice – Guitar

Links:

http://www.intromental.com/cloverseeds/

http://www.myspace.com/cloverseeds

Buy album from:

Asian Women on the Telephone – ICanT

The album is available on Bandcamp as streaming and as a free download, play it as you read, but not advised if you’ve got a headache!

Another band of art-noise-terrorists from Moscow on that home for the awkward and obscure waifs and strays of the Russian music scene, R.A.I.G. (Russian Association of Independent Genres) are the marvellously monikered Asian Women on the Telephone, a band for whom, as far as I can gather, musicallity is secondary to their theatrical stage shows.

Opening proceedings on this their second album is Pleasure dome, an eleven minute ambient piece that gently bucks and sways like a leaky and creaking Russian freighter leaving the listener feeling a bit sea sick by the end. Cabaret Voltaire proto-industrial minimalism infuses Otverstie-uchitel’, echoed male and female voices weave in and out of the repetitive slow beat and single note guitar picking. The conjured spirit of Damo Suzuki, but more unsettling. At nearly seventeen minutes long, this piece does not really go anywhere, but maybe that’s the point, for it could be the soundtrack to a European highbrow art house film. This slow and faintly disturbing industrial hypnotic quality pervades the whole album, and while certainly more accessible than, say, Nurse With Wound, it is not for fans of the more traditional musical structure.

In fact musical structure is secondary to creating an atmosphere of bleak post-industrial proportions. Their neighbourhood must be a grim place! Komu verish, konopataja barsixa has two chords in it, and feels like The Fall warming up while waiting for Mark E Smith to finish his pint. Strange percussion, scratching and yelping pervade the intro to Lysogo gonjal oganjan which continues in the primitive Can vein, a repeated chant slowly building. What is it saying? As my knowledge of Russian is zero, I’ve no idea but it sounds suitably crazy to me! The bass line in Vip-Maria-viva-trance recalls Jah Wobble from early PiL, and as a result the piece almost swings. Mr (or Miss) “Brown Polizei” layers some strange childlike keyboard stabs over the top, and the guitar is doing a Keith Levene impersonation. All we need now is Lydon’s wailing and we’re “Careering”! I find myself tapping along to the rhythm as compared to the torpid nature of what has gone before this is almost jaunty. The upbeat continues into the next track Kljuch, zamok, yazyk with the snare drum panning across the stereo spectrum while strange high pitched treated voices intone the track title accompanied by synth rumblings from the drains. Very odd, this, perplexing but intriguing and not easy listening. With Poxotlivaja gorbun’ja ischet & naxodit we’re back to the slow persistent beat, and if I’ve got the translation all wrong and this is not about a “lustful hunchback” it damn well should be. Manic chuckling and ecstatic noises precede and interfere with what almost becomes a tune over shambolic percussion. Then the guitar starts stumbling around like, well, a drunken hunchback would be about right. Quite mad.

The pseudonyms the band use are great (see below) and have a touch of the Acid Mothers Temple about them, as indeed does last track title White rabbi motorcycle dub, which after the madness that has gone before is almost calming in a very off-kilter way. In fact you could well imagine a synapse-shifting gig where AWOTT were sharing a bill with AMT – now that would be something!

Not an album for those who insist on a melody, and guaranteed to clear the room of late stayers at a party, AWOTT have made a wilfully obtuse album to be filed with your most unpleasant Faust albums. I actually quite like it, but then again I can be a contrary sod!

The transliterated Russian track titles make little sense when put through Google Translate, but to give you a flavour, three I have at least hopefully partly deciphered are noted after the Latin transliteration… I could be completely wrong!

Tracklist:

01 Pleasure dome (11:06)
02 Otverstie-uchitel’ (16:53) (Hole teacher)
03 Komu verish, konopataja barsixa (4:53)
04 Lysogo gonjal oganjan (7:09)
05 Vip-Maria-viva-trance (10:07)
06 Kljuch, zamok, yazyk (3:51) (Key, lock, language)
07 Poxotlivaja gorbun’ja ischet & naxodit (11:18) (something about a “Lustful hunchback”)
08 White rabbi motorcycle dub (12:32)

Line up:

* Oriental Yid - drums, guitar
* Good Enough Freundin – guitar, vocal, drums
* Brown Polizei – keyboards, voice, bass
* Divine Gift – percussion, voice
* Mutter Land – drums, percussion, bass
* Lewd Primat – bass, voice

Canon Blue – Rumspringa

Canon Blue are essentially Daniel James with a whole host of mostly Scandinavian back up. As part of Efterklang’s touring band, Daniel, while not on the road with the Danish alt-pop ensemble had been intermittently working on this, his second album as Canon Blue. This may explain why each of the eleven songs here are bookended with the names of US cities.

Tracklist:

In The Beginning – Part Four

In which the first wave of prog collapses under the weight of its own self referential pretension.

Part Four – “A waste of talent and electricity” or, Right, let’s get controversial and ruffle some feathers…

This famous quote by DJ John Peel was his description of ELP’s performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival after the band’s performance had included the firing of real cannons from the stage, a Spinal Tap moment years before doing such a thing would be considered ironic. ELP are often quoted by prog haters as the epitome of everything excessive, bloated, and indulgent about prog, and, you have to say there can be little argument that their complete lack of subtlety combined with an apparent lack of self awareness remains divisive to this day. Even amongst prog fans they are either adored or loathed, although the former probably outnumber the latter.

What is certain is that the sight of three massive lorries in convoy with a massive E, L, and P on the roof of each in succession as they trundled the contents of an orchestra round the States for the Works tour was enough to make any self-respecting teenage garage band spit out fast’n'furious three chord venom with suitable gusto. I should know, I was one of them.

The thing is, they didn’t care, and being so far removed from their audience, and from the zeitgeist of the time were unlikely to have noticed anyway. So, take a bow ELP for being the band that meant punk rock just had to happen.

At the end of Part Three I dangled the suggestion that there was a band who almost destroyed prog without realising. This dubious honour goes to Yes, and the album that encapsulates prog self indulgence, but in a good way, Tales From Topographic Oceans. Released in 1974, luckily for Yes and for those of us who think that although it is quite mad, it is also something of a classic, it came out when prog was only just beginning its descent from its 1973 zenith and so the abuse it received from reviewers who wanted a Close To The Edge MkII was, to use an English colloquialism “water off a duck’s back”.

Recorded over a protracted period at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London, infamously decorated with cardboard cut-out cows (or model cows with electronic udders if you believe the more extreme versions of the story) and farm scenery to give it a rural ambiance, one has to wonder why they didn’t just hire a rural studio like Rockfield in Wales for the job. Down to earth keyboard player Rick Wakeman grew increasingly disgruntled with the rest of the band’s classical pretensions, playing darts or ordering takeaway curries while the rest discussed the increasingly bizarre musical and lyrical concepts behind this very odd meisterwork. Of course Rick later proved he could be just as pretentious by staging King Arthur On Ice, but there was, and still is, an appreciation of the absurd with Rick one feels.

If Tales From Topographic Oceans had been made in 1976 it too, along with the Panzer-like ELP would have been the joint reason that UK prog MkI had to die.

By early 1976 as a teenager, although I was a fan of the usual prog giants, (as you may guess apart from ELP who I have never come to terms with) and a lot of prog minnows for that matter, the general feeling amongst my peers and I was that why the hell should anyone need a first class honours degree in musical theory in order to form what essentially was still a rock’n'roll band?

There were two people from the first wave of prog who understood this, both called Peter, and both came up with punky alter-egos on their respective albums in 1975. Gabriel came up with proto-punk Rael and with Genesis made the utterly wonderful Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, while Hammill with his garage rocker Ricky Nadir alter-ego made the spiky and aggressive Nadir’s Big Chance. It is no coincidence that one John Lydon has said Hammill and VDGG were big influences on him, and Gabriel left Genesis at just the right time to emerge largely unscathed from the UK punk revolution.

Those who believe that the 1977 Year Zero revolution had little or no effect on the Big Seven of first wave prog are being somewhat revisionist, as every big name group saw Punk have some effect on them, ranging from a change in direction to complete disintegration:

ELP

Lumbering through the popular music jungle of the late 70s like a wounded elephant, the behemoth staggered on before collapsing under the weight its own pretension and splitting for the first time in 1978. By then even they had changed to a shorter song based version of their former pomp on that year’s Love Beach, an album that nobody at the time would admit to owning if they wanted to maintain a morsel of street cred.

Genesis

As mentioned above, Gabriel saw what was coming and jumped ship, leaving Collins in charge of a band that sadly slowly fizzled out from a prog point of view from that point, eventually becoming a risible pop band before finally calling it a day as late as 1998, largely forgotten by this scribbler. I had to look that up and I was frankly amazed they lasted that long!

Jethro Tull

Probably the least affected by the UK Punk explosion as they were far more popular in the States than over here in the UK, so they carried on regardless. Even Tull, whether as a conscious result of the back-to-basics revolution or not, changed their style to a shorter song based version of their previous prog epic template, coming up with what is now known as their folk-rock trilogy. This started with 1977’s Songs From The Wood, which incidentally is still my favourite Tull album.

King Crimson

Robert Fripp either had remarkable foresight or was simply lucky in that he disbanded his group at the height of their powers in 1974, only to reform the band in 1981 as a cerebral left field indie-prog outfit with the utterly brilliant Discipline album. Incidentally “indie” back then was a far more radical prospect than the insipid soundalike version of today.

Pink Floyd

Always a band more prog in concept than musically in my opinion, 1977’s Animals was bought by the shed load by Floyd’s dedicated fanbase as if punk had never happened. Shorter songs were to appear on the Waters’ dominated The Wall two years later, with his version of uppity yoof being a school choir (!) on Another Brick In The Wall Pt2. Like ELP they carried on regardless before finally imploding under the weight of Waters’ paranoia soon after the awful Final Cut in 1983. Three albums in six years shows how they had run out of steam.

Van Der Graaf Generator

The other Peter also knew what was going down and finally dissolved the string driven version of band sometime before the 1978 live double album Vital was released. Hammill continued with his eclectic solo career, and like Fripp and Gabriel was largely respected by the punky crew.

Yes

If any proof of their desperation was needed, after critical slating for 1978’s Tormato, yet another example of a change to shorter song based writing, and the subsequent departure of Anderson & Wakeman, the band’s management bizarrely recruited Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, better known at the time as synth poppers Buggles and made the atypical rock-pop album Drama. If this is not conclusive proof of the musical times a-changing, then I don’t know what is.

All of that was of course entirely subjective, and disagreement from you, dear reader, is to be expected. The whys and wherefores of the Prog v Punk debate will go on forever!

…and so ends the tale of the first wave of UK prog. Let us not forget that Europe, and Italy in particular, were very quick to take up the prog mantle first picked up by the UK, and it is often said that had we not created the form then the Italians would have invented it anyway, but that’s a story to be written (please!) by someone with far more than my limited knowledge of that vast scene. Now, where’s that Acqua Fragile CD?

La Coscienza di Zeno – La Coscienza di Zeno

Another outstanding addition to the thriving music scene of the Italian port city of Genoa, La Coscienza di Zeno was founded in  2007 by a group of experienced musicians – bassist Gabriele “Estunno” Guidi Colombi (also a founding member of Il Tempio delle Clessidre), drummer Andrea Orlando and vocalist Alessio Calandriello. Keyboardist and lyricist Stefano Agnini joined the band at the beginning of 2008, while guitarist Davide Serpico (who replaced original guitarist Matteo Malvezzi) and keyboardist Andrea Lotti joined between 2008 and 2009. Agnini left at the end of the recording sessions for La Coscienza di Zeno’s self-titled debut album, which had started in May 2010.

The band takes its distinctive name (meaning “Zeno’s Conscience” in English, and often shortened to CDZ for ease of reference) from one of the masterpieces of Italian literature, the ground-breaking psychological novel published in 1923 by writer and businessman Italo Svevo, and written in the form of an autobiography meant to help the titular Zeno’s attempts to quit smoking through psychoanalysis. Not surprisingly, La Coscienza di Zeno’s debut possesses a definite intellectual appeal – though without the level of pretentiousness that might be expected _ revolving around Stefano Agnini’s highly literate lyrics (loosely inspired by the novel) masterfully interpreted by lead singer Alessio Calandriello’s technically impeccable voice, passionate without being overwrought.

La Coscienza di Zeno is one of those rare albums that, while in keeping with the classic prog tradition of long tracks, rich instrumentation (with special prominence given to the keyboards) and intricate arrangements, achieves the considerable feat of never overstaying its welcome.  As other reviewers have pointed out, the album is not as easy to approach as other comparable efforts, and the first impression might be somewhat deceiving. To be perfectly honest, after my first listen I thought, here is another of the many Italian Genesis-worshipping bands – which, after successive listens, turned out to be a very unfair assessment. Indeed, while the Genesis influence is occasionally hard to miss, the album’s roots lie firmly and deeply in the great Italian prog tradition, with Banco del Mutuo Soccorso a particularly apt reference, mainly on account the presence of two keyboardists and the remarkable balance between vocal and instrumental parts.

Clocking in at slightly under one hour, La Coscienza di Zeno features seven tracks between 6 and 13 minutes. Though the main foundation of the album is symphonic, lush and multilayered, with plenty of seamless instrumental interplay, outstanding solo passages and rivetingly expressive singing, there is also enough variety to keep the interest of the more eclectic-minded listeners, with a wide range of influences cropping up almost unexpectedly, from waltz to folk by way of jazz and even hard rock. The almost wholly instrumental (except for the spoken-word vocals in the middle) opener “Cronovisione” is melodic and intricate at the same time, with echoes of Yes in the airy synth sweeps laced with faintly spiky guitar, and of Banco in the majestic yet dynamic feel imparted by the twin keyboards. “Gatto Lupesco”, hinges on Alessio Calandriello’s amazing vocal range and expressive power, complemented by a musical accompaniment that is melancholy and intense in turns, driven by keyboards and dramatic drumming. The obligatory epic, “Nei Cerchi del Legno” (partly inspired by the iconic tale of Pinocchio, one of the few instances of Italian literature that have had some international resonance) has a rather unusual format, being mostly instrumental, with vocals making an appearance only towards the end. The music, on the other hand, is a triumph of imposing symphonic passages rendered even more lush by the double keyboard setup and string arrangement, almost jazzy inserts offset by gently meditative episodes, and stunning synth-guitar interplay that brings to mind Genesis’ immortal “Firth of Fifth”.

Out of the remaining four tracks, “Il Fattore Precipitante” pursues the classic Italian prog route, with the lavish, airy Genesis-like suggestions sharpened by some heavy riffing and high-powered rhythm work courtesy of Gabriele Guidi Colombi and Andrea Orlando – though Calandriello steals the show here, his vocal tour de force complemented by a superb instrumental tapestry of keyboards, drums and guitar. “Il Basilisco”, on the other hand, signals a sharp change in mood and musical style – a folk-tinged number veined with melancholy and enhanced by the arresting, unmistakably Old-World accordion of guest artist Luca Scherani of Höstsonaten, also showcasing Davide Serpico’s lovely acoustic guitar work. The splendid, exquisitely tense instrumental “Un Insolito Baratto Alchemico” juxtaposes quieter, flute-led sections and stormy keyboard passages spiced by metal-hued riffing, enriched by solemn organ and lilting piano; while closer “Acustica Felina” (the second longest track on the album) reprises the lush symphonic mood of the beginning, rounded up by the deep choral tone of the inevitable Mellotron. Calandriello’s voice tackles the challenging lyrical matter with superb expertise, veering from gentleness to a deep, almost menacing tone; the song is then wrapped up by a magnificent, Hackettian guitar solo.

With refreshing honesty, La Coscienza di Zeno make no bones about paying homage to the progressive rock tradition of the Seventies, both Italian and British – even if the sound quality and production values of their debut album are thoroughly modern, and lend extra depth and dimension to the elegantly complex music. An obvious labour of love, every aspect of the album has been carefully considered in order to offer a complete experience to the discerning listener – with stylish, mostly black-and-white photography and detailed liner notes, including the lyrics (which make worthwhile reading for anyone familiar with the Italian language). Indeed, La Coscienza di Zeno is a must for all lovers of vintage Italian prog, adding the band to the growing list of excellent “traditional but modern” acts that already includes their fellow Genoese Il Tempio delle Clessidre and La Maschera di Cera, as well as the revamped Delirium. Highly recommended to symphonic prog fans and anyone who is not put off by foreign-language vocals, this is another classy package coming from the ever-dependable Italian prog scene.

Tracklist:

1. Cronovisione (7:36)
2. Gatto Lupesco (7:23)
3. Nei Cerchi del Legno (13:09):
- a. Pinocchio (0:00)
- b. V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (2:17)
- c. L’Eterna Spirale del Destino (5:22)
- d. Radici di una Coscienza (8:57)
4. Il Fattore Precipitante (7:00)
5. Il Basilisco (6:19)
6. Un Insolito Baratto Alchemico (7:11)
7. Acustica Felina (9:37)

Line-up:

* Gabriele Guidi Colombi – bass
* Andrea Orlando – drums, percussion
* Alessio Calandriello – vocals
* Davide Serpico – electric and acoustic guitars
* Andrea Lotti – piano, keyboards, acoustic guitar
* Stefano Agnini – piano, keyboards

With:
*Luca Scherani –  accordion (5), flute arrangement (6)
* Joanne Roan – flute (6)
* Rossano Villa – string arrangement (3, 7)
* Lidia Molinari – voice (1, 7)

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/lacoscienzadizeno

Bruno Pitch – Crystal Garden

Bruno Pitch is a guitarist and Chapman Stick player from Moulins, France, and Crystal Garden is his debut self-released album from 2010. Originally a guitarist, there is an apparent difference in Bruno’s approach when you compare his style to other Chapman Stick players. The album is instrumental in its entirety, although there can be heard a voice in an instrumental form.

Joined by the drummer Guix Hure and Coumarin Breme (tablas) the trio mixes up progressive rock, fusion and the bits of world music in eight tracks. The album kicks off with Liquid Garden, the longest song on the album, and also the most experimental when compared to all the other pieces. A very psychedelic piece that explores a variety of soundscapes whose ingredients are harmonic mischief, drums, some percussive wickedness, with the mentioned voices serving as an additional instrument.

The title track and Le Chateau fall under the domain of renaissance fusiony exploration. Dual Sphere (included on our recently released Progstravaganza compilation) brings the vibe of Rush and clearly stands out as the most progressive rock piece on Crystal Garden. Friendships, together with Neverlove are the simplest tracks on the record in terms of their structure. At the other side, the biggest highlight comes in the shape of Karachi, the track adorned by Mid-Eastern influence weighed excellently on the Chapman and Tabla.

Flirting with plenty different elements, with Crystal Garden Bruno Pitch shows skills and readiness that in the near future will produce an album which will be highly appreciated in the collection of every progressive rock fan. And with this release, he is very close to that.

Tracklist:

01. Liquid Garden
02. Crystal Garden
03. Dual Sphere
04. Friendships
05. Karachi
06. La Chateau
07. Neverlove
08. Solarium

Line-up:

* Bruno Pitch – Chapman Stick
* Guix Huré – drums, percussions
* Coumarin Breme – Tablas, voices

Links:

http://www.brunopitch.com/

Ana Never – Ana Never

The story of this EP dates back to 2006, when it was originally released digitally (as a free download), but the beginning of 2011 brought the physical release of the same material on Fluttery Records.

Ana Never hails from Subotica, northern Serbia and serves post-rock in the vein of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mono, with the slight adition of Floydesque ambientally psychedelia. Four tracks clocking 66 minutes of an always growing sound dealing with ambient, post-rock and drone elements explore the deepest abysses of one’s existence. The personal seal, drawn above the songs’ structure is articulated through the EP’s time-growth.

The life-weary monologue in the opening Streetlights crossed with darkish atmospheric melody line, reminiscent of Morte Macabre’s Symphonic Holocaust, makes you feel you are inside the mouth of an ailing monster, who is savagely chewing you again and again. The song gets on tempo in its second half and the guys provide much more technical performance. The guitars keep on reverberating and getting up and down with drums taking the big deal.

Dnevnik Jednog Morfiniste is already known to all of you who downloaded Progstravaganza 7. It’s another slab, reaching almost 18 minutes and compared to Streetlights, this track deals a lot more with ambient and atmospheric elements. The way I experience this piece could be put in a few words. These are “the song of clouds“. The song’s floating nature is like a shifting of the clouds, making you wait for the drops to fall down.

If the previous track relied mostly on ambient, 30 Seconds of My Past Life is built on melody, as a significant factor of post-rock approach, while the closing (live) number entitled Future Wife justifies the mentioned presence of Pink Floyd. Speaking of this track, it’s not included on the CD released by Fluttery Records, but it was included once when the first version of the EP was released back in 2006.

Having recorded and released Ana Never, the band transfused grey into the tunes, showing how the life looks like in a small spot from whose perspective the world looks only black and white.

Tracklist:

01. Streetlights
02. Dnevnik Jednog Morfiniste
03. 30 Seconds of my Past Life
04. Future Wife (Live)

Line-up:

* Srdjan Terzin – guitar
* Dejan Topić – guitar
* Goran Grubišić – drums
* Ivana Primorac – bass
* Ivan Čkonjević – guitar

Links:

http://ananever.bandcamp.com/

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