MESSAGES FROM AFAR - THE DIVISION AND ILLUSION OF TIME

The remarkably prolific Antony Kalyugin, Ukraine's best musical export, returns a year after Part One of his Messages From Afar trilogy, which appeared under another of his alter egos, Karfagen. Kalyugin is something of a musical polymath, in that he rarely sits still musically for too long. Part Two of Messages, while directly continuing the theme of the first record, is a different sounding entity, hence the Sunchild label, which is bright, warm straight ahead Prog, full of melody and harmony, while Karfagen shows a more instrumental, jazz inflected side. Either way, Part Two, is Kalyugin at his best. Chock full of warm, sometimes vintage sounding instrumentation, powerful vocals, and confident performances, this already familiar with this man's work, will know what to expect and lap up this latest episode. Everyone else though, who like their prog, classic, symphonic, or simply want some good tunes, will find much to enjoy here. Roll on Part 3 in 2019.