THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART

The new album by Roz Vitalis was an important milestone in the history of the band. This is the first album that the band funded through a crowdfunding campaign. From the very beginning, the musicians were aimed to do something special and outstanding. And, in my opinion, they succeeded. Many of the songs were already familiar to me in live performances, which are heard early. And it was nice to finally appreciate these works in the studio.

The first thing I would like to note is that the band finally managed to make a really high-quality recorded album. And this is a great merit of sound engineer Dmitry Chichagov. Records are pleasantly perceived when listening, mixing and mastering at a good level. Nothing cuts the ear, the instruments are clearly discernible, no porridge in the sound.

The next thing I'd like to point out is the integrity of the album. "The Hidden Man of the Heart" is not perceived as a collection of tracks, but as a truly holistic product. This, in my opinion, played a significant role, including participation in the recording of the string Quartet, namely those small musical interludes performed by the Quartet, which seem to be held by a connecting thread throughout the album.

Another advantage of the album "the Hidden Man of the Heart" is that in this work the band, I think, and how I felt, revealed more fully than before, their individuality and originality. If on the previous album "Lavoro d'amore" at me and then as if by themselves floated some correlation and Association with the music of other groups, now such a sensation there, or almost there. You can, of course, strain, and consciously try to find any similarities with other groups, but listening album and not stigmatizing before a such a task, I feel, that in this album group unfolded the most full of the.

And, of course, I would like to praise the musicians for the study of the compositions themselves, for the work on the structural content of the tracks, and for the beautiful melodies and music presented on the album.

New album by Roz Vitalis, I put in my personal list of top 10 Russian prog albums, and of course, it's definitely one of the best works of 2018 under any scenario, no matter how great albums in one year would not come out.