VOYAGER

Kenny Mitchell resides in Newcastle, UK and produces music entirely on his own talents.A first taste of his value was launched in November 2012 with the EP ''Excerpts from Jane Eyre'', which showed a cinematic approach to rock music.Two months later his prog background came on surface.Mitchell's first actual full-length album saw the light via bandcamp, entitled ''Voyager''.The man recorded all instruments on his own and, more impressively, he was also responsible for all the graphic design, artwork and photo work of the CD.

The content of this effort prooves Mitchell's high ambitions, as the album consists of two long tracks, over 25 minutes each, of instrumental, dreamy and well-crafted Progressive Rock with evident hints from the 70's and bombastic nuances from the modern era.As a result, these pieces come as a combination of old-school acoustic lines and symphonic keyboard work with heavier guitar segments and spacey, layered synthesizers to deliver multi-inspired progressive music.Detected influences include PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, PORCUPINE TREE and even MIKE OLDFIELD.Basic elements of ''Voyager'' are the ethereal piano lines, the hard psych-influenced guitar riffing, the cinematic, almost MARILLION-esque electric solos and the bucolic acoustic underlines, while a variety of synth-based soundscapes is always around, not to mention the few occasions of organ-flavored parts.Powerful passages, vintage touches, symphonic overtones and a somewhat folky attitude are reasonable after-effects of Mitchell's diverse musicianship.Full of shifting tempos and climates, ''Voyager'' offer textures, that can be either dramatic and passionate or more laid-back with a lovely spaciness.Be sure to face some pretty solid and dense prog material at the very end.

Fundamental Progressive Rock of nice quality, summing up a great effort by this man.Atmospheric, challenging and tight music, wrapped up in two 25-min. packs of sheer beauty.Warmly recommended.

UK composer and musician Kenny MITCHELL is one of many artists who seemingly have come out of nowhere the last few years, and I suspect that a combination of affordable recording possibilities, time at hand and means to distribute your music yourself without a steep cost have fueled many such ventures, although I don't know if that's the situation in this particular case. Even so, Mitchell ventured forth with an EP in 2012, two full length albums followed in 2013, of which "Voyager" is the second, and a third album is just about to be released at the time of writing.

In the realm of DIY artists, UK composer and musician Kenny Mitchell has made himself a compelling creation with "Voyager". A production that does suffer a bit from being the work of a one man band, but containing two compelling pieces of instrumental progressive rock that should find favor amongst fans of bands like Pink Floyd in particular, and recommended to those amongst them who enjoy the more accessible parts of that band's repertoire. Especially if they don't mind music with somewhat more of a lo-fi production.

Having recently reviewed Kenny's last two albums, of course the time is now right to go back to what is his best-selling work, 2013's 'Voyager'. It contains just two "songs" of 25 minutes in length, along with a small demo track at the end. Kenny provides all the instrumentation himself, and what is fascinating is the way he can bring in Floydian keyboards and Gilmour style guitar, or he can be driving the bass to create something which is pulsing and dramatic. It is the contrast between the different styles that makes this such an interesting album, as while crossover prog is a great way of describing it, sometimes it can be very symphonic, and it would be possible to edit sections out that would make the listener feel that they were listening to something from 'Animals' era Floyd.

Although generally the production is very good indeed, and wonderfully sympathetic to the sounds being created, it is very much let down when it comes to the way the drums have been treated. For me the album actually works best when there are no drums at all, as while there are times when the drums are fine, there are plenty of others where they distract from what it quite a powerful piece of work. When the keyboards are providing a backdrop, the bassline is being slid up and down, the rhythm guitar provides the crunch, and there is an overdriven guitar solo, then that is when this album works best for me. I've only come across Kenny fairly recently, and he is yet another musician worth investigating. Don't believe me? Check out his albums on Bandcamp and see what I mean.