AN AMBASSADOR IN BONDS

Remembering the kind of music that Yes were doing back in the Seventies, Steve Howe writes that he used to think about it as a sort of "soft rock" (no kidding!). Maybe the tag "progressive rock" had not evolved yet, or they were just leaving behind the then well-known genre definitions, in any case, what it really matters is how comfortable you feel with the new step that an artist takes at a given moment of time. And I can say that I like this step, the new album by Compassionizer.

Even when this sophomore effort by the Russian combo shows a definite spiritual concept emerging from the track titles and the ascetic atmospheres imposed by the keyboards, we don't have to fear the weight of any religious tradition. The search for spiritual enlightenment develops itself in a very creative and self-contained way, in a chamber-rock fashion that adds ethnic instruments to the classic ones, without ever disdaining the melodic element.

Whenever you like to feel and breathe a lot of tonal and rhythmic space inside and around the music, anytime you are concerned with its scope and transcendence, then this record may be an excellent addition to your library.