L'ASCENSIONE

Did you ever happen to listen disc, which makes to remember King Crimson, Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, Gentle Giant, Rush, Russian folklore and Russian sacred music, contemporary avantgarde (from Olivier Messiaen to Sofiya Gubaydulina), something from Soviet "prog" soundtracks for films (including animated ones) and Soviet prog-rock bands, but, nevertheless, is unlike all the above? It is such music which is rare and fascinating, fragile by its nature, but extremely influential on attentive, erudite and open-minded listener that is represented by musicians from Saint-Petersburg on "L'Ascensione". Appallingly figurative, beautiful and melodic art-progressive- avantgarde-space-rock by Roz Vitalis is so visual that have provoked associations with would-be documentary film as if shooting in the Russian Museum (which is one of the main museums of Saint-Petersburg and Russia in general). Camera suddenly moves from brightly painted futuristic avantgarde kaleidoscope to as if shining canvas by Nesterov, from them to the universal mysteries by Roerich, and, finally, to the icons by Rublyov, madness by Vrubel, and at once to the epoch of palace revolutions - time of courteous and cynical conventionalities, devilish collage of refinement, enlightenment and mannered trample of the all sacred. and once again to the twentieth century, which is industrial and rusted throughout. The central motive of all excursion are the icons as a symbol of conscience and repentance. We come back to them in the end. "L'Ascensione" is, perhaps, the most Russian in itself album by Roz Vitalis (in spite of the fact that afterwards the band turned more evidently to folklore). In this album all history of Russia is as though an archive including everything from ancient manuscripts to contemporary films. In the first place it is history of the Russian spirituality, which since the Time of Troubles tries to get on with Western values, the Russian revolt with its senseless ruthlessness to the all (and most of all to the authors of itself), and, finally, the profound repentance, return to God. After all, I would like to say that, possibly, there are reasons for blaming the band (practically one-man-project by Ivan Rozmainsky who if he would live in France, Belgium or Switzerland, would be able easily to drive own project to the level of Art Zoyd and Univers Zero in a sense of both recording quality and acknowledgement) for "small- budget electronicity" of sound, lack of live instruments, but, after letting of "Ascension" into heart, I am under charms of true, sensitive, profound, "non-fictitious" art, which is experienced and heartfelt. Figurativeness and openness, complete absence of vanity of vanities of the moment, that is too much customary for the most contemporary bands of all styles and kinds, makes this marvelous, lofty and sublime music perfectly disarming.