KARFAGEN

Yet another new album by Karfagen was released two days ago, phew! How can anyone be so productive and keep it on such high artistic level? It took me ridiculously long to finally listen to this preceding one released in May. But all the more rewarding it was. Several years (and perhaps a bit too many Karfagen/Kalugin albums) ago, I was deeply charmed by the music of this amazing prog talent from Ukraine. The impression has naturally decreased in time, as it all has become pretty familiar.

But against my own expectations, my initial listening of Land of Chameleons was graced by that magic again. It definitely helped to have a little pause. Yes, it's all exactly what his listeners have learned to expect, but I daresay this one touches perfection as a Karfagen album, and I simply have to give it five stars as I have done multiple times before. I sense a strong inspiration and pure musical bliss on this album.

Since another reviewer here gives a detailed track-by- track analysis, I'll stay on my overall impressions. The band led by composer & keyboardist Antony Kalugin is in a terrific shape, and it's great to hear Marek Arnold's soprano sax guesting on many tracks. There's a suitable amount of both Antony's vocals and the female vocals while the emphasis is on the playing: soaring, melodic, passionate and Neo-flavoured contemporary Symphonic Prog in the vein of The Flower Kings and such. Well, by now Karfagen itself ought to be among the references when speaking of this style. It doesn't get quite so overblown, and a certain mellowness -- comparable to Camel and the quartet era Genesis -- is essential.

The pieces around ten minutes in length are all gorgeous compositions. Instrumental 'Journey to a Shrine' is perhaps the loveliest, so full of emotional melodies. 'My Shadow' uses (once more) a poem of R. L. Stevenson, and the childlike spirit is beautifully captured in Antony's and Mariya's duet vocals.

Two brief instrumentals are ideally placed. 'Dios Pyros' slightly reminds me of Tony Banks' A Curious Feeling album sonically, but enhanced with Arnold's sax. And the closing track '2 Minutes Before the Dawn' is a nocturnal, New Age approaching synth piece. The two CD-only bonus tracks are nice, too. One instrumental and one with vocals.

This album has deservedly earned a lot of high ratings (and I frankly cannot comprehend the few low ones). So, a sincere thank you to Antony. You still move me with your music!

At last I've been able to obtain the new album by Karfagen and it is FANTASTIC!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this CD as it is a real breath of fresh air, as most of Karfagen's albums are, and this one is no different - and I mean that in a positive way!

I was going to write a track by track review but I've been beaten to it! There's not much I can add to the glowing reports already mentioned, but I just had to say something to express my gratitude to Antony and the band for composing and producing such top class prog! All musicians are playing extremely well with sweeping keys and synths accompanied by some great guitar playing. My favorite track on here (if I had to choose one) is Track 5: Into The Kaleidoscope. Pure Prog, and I love it!! I would love to hear this song performed on stage. Any song they play live will be brilliant, but this one really tops my list.

So Thanks Antony and Karfagen for releasing more beautiful sounds for us to enjoy! Stay safe you guys and keep Prog alive with music such as this.

Prolific NeoProgger Antony Kalugin's 2024 contribution to Prog World includes myriad buyer's choices in terms of form and song inclusions. The version that I acquired on Bandcamp is not the same as that listed above in the PA database.

Line-up / Musicians: - Antony Kalugin / keyboards, vocals With: - Mariya Panasenko / vocals (1,3) - Olha Rostovska / vocals (5,6) - Max Velychko / electric & acoustic guitars - Konstantin Ionenko / bass - Viktor Syrotin / drums & percussion - Sergii Kovalov / accordion (5) And: - Marek Arnold / soprano saxophone (1,2,4,5)

1. "Land of Chameleons" (4:51) Antony's ROINE STOLT-like talk-sing voice is mirrored by Mariya Panasenko's beautiful, lilting (and sometimes belting) soprano (in multiple tracks) to sing this proggy THE FLOWER KINGS-like song. Professionally constructed and rendered with excellent engineering and production, I just wish the high ends of modern music weren't so muted and/or compressed. P.S. The soprano saxophone play of Marek Arnold is quite good- -definitely a standout element. (8.875/10)

2. "Agora by Day" (10:04) The proggy sound palette sounds so computerized: the drums sound machine-generated, the bass muted and lacking percussiveness like a keyboard, even the rhythm guitars sound button-pushed. The keys and lead guitars are rich and well-presented though also feeling compressed on their high ends. Antony's singing again sounds like a cone-muted ROINE STOLT, but the music's chord and melodic presentations are quite engaging, even enjoyable--especially in the soft passage crossing from the fifth to the sixth minutes. I feel as if the instrumentally-complex bridge inserted at the 6:00 mark exists only to try to prove to me that these are actually human-played drums, bass, and keys. I remain fairly unconvinced. Still, the music is quite good, definitely proggy, and, though somewhat familiar, feeling new enough to satisfy my pleasure principals. The closing motif is quite satisfying-- even emotional. (18/20)

3. "My Shadow" (7:49) I am really troubled by the rather-blatant and unabashed imitation of ROINE STOLT with Antony's vocals. The song is also structured and stylized to sound like some kind of 1980s power ballad--like Alannah Myles' rocked-up version of "Black Velvet"--at least until the end of the third minute when things turn more jazzy-- bordering on Yacht Rock (albeit, very good Yacht Rock). I guess I shouldn't complain since there are not a lot of artists (that I know of) doing this kind of quality Classic Yacht Rock today. The good parts are quite good (the instrumental Yacht Rock passages) and the more familiar, cliched BONNIE TYLER/KIM CARNES-like parts are still pretty darn good. (13.5/15)

4. "Dios Pyros (part 2)"(3:01) a weird little electronic keyboard- and computer-generated piece for Antony's piano to solo within. (8.5/10)

5. "Into the Kaleidoscope" (11:49) a song that sounds as if Antony had been studying GLASS HAMMER's masterpiece epic from 2005's Colossus Magazine-Musea Records commissioned Odyssey: The Greatest Tale. He throws in a little Lion King/Adiemus and some sounds and elements from Anthony Phillips' 1984, and a lot of it is generating/inspiring original music, but he keeps coming back to melodic and chordal themes used in the Glass Hammer piece. The final electric piano-led motif sounds a bit like a reprise of the previous "pyros" piece. (22/25)

6. "Journey to a Shrine" (10:49) opening with some dark chords played rather incongruously with pleasant, light sound choices, the song turns into a New Age song that sounds like it came straight out of one of David Lantz & Paul Speer's albums from the late 1980s and 1990s. At the end of the second minute our perceptions are distracted for a bit by a Middle Eastern palette and melody, but within 30 seconds the music returns to the Lantz-Speer motif--until 3:55 when a piano-supported poorly-recorded wordless vocal chant from Olga Rostovska returns to a Middle Eastern-like setting, though this time feeling far more spacious and epic. The heavy multi-drum hits every 2.5 seconds adds to this slow build epic feel. In the seventh minute they switch to reverb snares and then getting muted from the 7:30 mark on--so that a searing electric guitar solo can be fully heard. There is no denying that the music is pleasant, engaging and beautiful--both the New Age theme and the proggy Middle Eastern theme--but once again I find myself unsettled by its computer manipulation and usurpation of "borrowed" sounds and themes. (18.5/20) 7. "2 Minutes Before the Dawn" (2:37) multiple synths and Fender Rhodes with support of bass and soprano sax and a few electric guitar chord strums. Nice. Maybe Antony should move full time into the creation and publication of New Age soundscapes: he is certainly very good at them. (9.3333/10)

Total Time 45:47

The two main issues I have with this album are the computer-polish and Antony's prepensity to rely on lifting sounds, riffs, chord progressions, even forms and styles from past masters; I know everybody does it to some extent, but Antony's lifts are so blatant that they even conjure up the exact songs that they came from. Is this intentional? Is he creating music like a circus performer: with every intention of arousing the crowd's boisterous cheers every time we recognize a familiar riff.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of NeoProgSymph. Highly recommended for those of you who prefer to bask in the warm and nostalgic sunlight of the past.

The new Karfagen album, 'Land of the Chameleons' ably greets us into this other world. Antony Kalugin has this surmountable ability of transporting the listener to magical places. The musical talent he imports is always of high quality as this band translates Antony's vision into chimes of wonder and beauty.

1. LAND OF THE CHAMELEONS The first song introduces the mood and feel rapidly. Antony sings almost immediately soon followed by the background singers enhancing this world we just stepped into. Naturally we get the spirited keyboards backed and supported by the sparkling guitar. Mel Collins type saxophone playing also ensues making this song a crystal and clear intro to this new collection.

2. AGORA BY DAY This 10 minute track to my ears has a familiar tone and temperament. Within 2 mintues we hear several themes all combining, blending and furthering a captivating chain of musical elements, leading into a fast paced mixture of keyboard, guitar and vocals reaching an endearing climax.

3. MY SHADOW The soft touches of the keyboards takes us to Antony's quiet singing and the ghostly guitar strains of Max Velychko. The gift of Mariya Panasenko's voice heightens the timbre of the piece with Marek Arnold from 'Damenek' playing saxophone adding to the mix.

4. DIOS PYROS PART 2 A sombre interlude running at 3 minutes. A blend of piano and saxophone that brings an air of curiosity. A certain bounce in the piano enters here backed by long synth notes ending in a wonderful and quiet bass guitar moment.

5. INTO THE KALEIDOSCOPE An anthemed symphonic intro begins this 11 minute track. Mostly keyboard driven with touches of guitar in the background enhanced by gracious saxophone . I do get hints of 'Dragon Isle' here a little which is no bad thing. In fact it highlights Antony's development. I also suggest to anyone to watch the video of this on Youtube. The animation is astonishing and incredibly inventive. Picture and sound truly complement each other.

6. JOURNEY TO A SHRINE This track to me is the reason to own this album. It has become one of my favourite Karfagen tracks. It begins with cold, delicate guitar tones that warm you up into a heated and exciting wealth of musical pleasure and enlightenment. After pulling back midway to a soft and endearing path, it then leads into an ethereal climax that leaves you breathless.

7. 2 MINUTES BEFORE THE DAWN This now brings us to the end of the album with another short track taking us to the dawn and with the warmth of the rising sun.

Again, Antony has brought to us his scope of symphonic beauty to the highest of quality. This is an outstanding addition to the Karfagen library, to any library. His music grasps his fantastical themes with passion and vigour. His music permeates the listener with joy, excitement, comfort and beauty. I gauge this album very high and would think Antony himself would be very proud of his accomplishment here.

I Been Diehard Karfagen fan since 2018. This new alblum..I love alot more then one previous this year it mostly all vocals. As sunchild is no more... I feel antony wanted make vocals alblum ..give sunchild fans what they like Do instrumental alblum for ones who prefer that format more so both audiences are pleased.

1. Land of Chameleons (4:51)---8 out of 10 this song 2. Agora by Day (7:52)10 out 10 this song very reminscence of tomas bodin at times 3. My Shadow (7:49)-9 out of 10 vocals are superb this song . 4. 2 Minutes Before the Dawn (2:37) 8 out 10 short song 5. Into the Kaleidoscope (11:49)-9 out of 10 the bread and butter i love female vocals on this alblum alot they pair well with male vocals 6. Journey to a Shrine (10:49) 10 out of 10 killer song.

overall rating 95 out 10 so 4.5 stars out of 5.

I`m waiting for the Vinyl version of this fantastic album to be released! Great album from the artwork to the very last notes. I have it in a Deluxe edition format, which is 2CDs editon, it came to me not long ago with Cool "Echoes from witin Dragon Island" 2 LPs deluxe Gold edition... So, i believe, the "Chameleon" vinyl will be the same superb quality. To order Vinyl - go to Anton`s official Bandcamp site - which is the main way to support the artist directly and of course to have some signed physical goods.

1) Land of Chameleons 04:51 - album starts straight away from the hit rock ballad with very melodic vocal lines. Maria`s vocals are superb compliment to it. (17/20) 2) Agora by Day 10:04 - Mainly instrumental true Karfagens trademark. (Agora by Night was presented on a previous more jazz rock album) Vocals on this track are like - Zappa meets Gilmour ))) great! (18/20) 3) My Shadow 07:49 - My favourite!!! Amazing ballad with Canterbury instrumental breaks - Max on guitars , Maria on Vocals - Kostya on bass, Viktor Syrotin on drums and the main man on Keyboards/ vocals doing great job. This one is an art rock classic piece (by the way it`s based on Robert Louis Stevenson`s poetry, like the Dragon Island album) No doubts : (20 out 20!) 4) Dios Pyros Part 2 03:02 - Nice piano driven instrumental piece - modern piano classic . George Gershwin , Claude Debussy comes to my mind and of course Happy the Mans Kit Watkins and Frank Wyatt. (15/15) Vinyl side 2: 5) Into the Kaleidoscope 11:48 - once again, well crafted, mainly instrumental track with parts sang in Ukrainian language. this one has lovely video on YouTube. Marek Arnold plays soprano sax solo on this one - what a solo - well done! This track has very powerful and emotional final part (19/20) 6) Journey to a Shrine 10:49 - another epic, this time it`s something intimate that goes straight to your heart. You drift away along with the music into some mysterious journey. Antony`s wife Olga does vocalis in the middle of the track, very nice. I understand Antony , when , before releaseing the CD , he wrote message to us (followers on Bandcamp) that this epic will be a sort of dedication to Peter Bardens ; listen to the last part of the track, what a solo! what a harmony ! (25/25) 7) 2 Minutes before the Dawn 02:24 - gentle instrumental mood with keys and sax - smooth ending of the Side B (10/10)

Must have album - for me, it`s one of the best, in 2024

One of the best symphonic prog albums of the 21st century. It`s obvious that this album will be in my top 10 of modern prog releases! I`ve just received the Vinyl 2LP Deluxe version and it sounds even better!! So warm and melodic with so much passion and melody. It`s an symphonic poem, suite almost rock opera ))) with touches of gryphon, Flower Kings, Pink Floyd and Camel... just to name a few. My favs are Suite part 1 and 2 together with the gentle acoustic ballad " My Bed is a Boat" - it could fit 1 LP and it would be still a masterpiece!!!!!! I have Vinyls in GOLD variant - because this album is value of Gold to me) There`s not many places where you can get vinyl - just go directly to Anton`s Bandcamp site and you can order it there - support the artist you like DIRECTLY! Must have , my rating is 30 / 30!

Amazing album from start to the last chords. Combination of long instrumental passages with lovely melodic songs.Antony did it again! Firstly "Land of Chameleons" charms you with its surreal and imaginative artwork (by maestro Igor Sokolskiy). Then you dive into the world of sound - which is very balanced and production is top (actually all latest albums raised the bar on a high level!). It`s already on a Spotify (though only the "main" cd material, which is presented on a vinyl too, that will be released later) I enjoyed the 2nd cd of the Deluxe edition as well - must have edition for true fans! (you can listen to it and purchase of course, on Antony's official Bandcamp site). I'm waiting for my Cd to arrive - and to hold this prog epic in my hands. Unfortunately, I`m not into vinyls anymore (wish i could have more space for my collection) but I do beleive "Land of Chameleons"will look and sounds gorgeous in LP format. So, the latest release is at some point a mixture of Karfagen's classic symphonic driven prog with brightest elements of Sunchild, that to me, is a perfect combination.

4.5 Another Anthony Kalugin's success with slight jazz rock feeling "Lost Symphony" by Karfagen is like an vintage art rock fairytale - something special for those who loves Camel "Snow Goose" and Gryphon "Midnight Mushrumps". It`s an instrumental album that is divided on to three chapters, nearly 22 minutes each. I can clearly imagine it as a sides of a LP. First chapter: "The Frog, the Beast & the Wizard" - starts from lush keyboards - perfect positive intro to a symphonic poem where different characters and landscapes takes you to the fantastic world of adventures. You`ll find eccentric and flashing pieces like "The Cosmic Frog & the Beast" & "Salvatore". Classical Rimsky-Korsakov style "Orgaria" where Antony has painted a wonderful mellow pastoral with the beauty and variety of electric organ and gentle "China Wizard" by talented guitarist Alex Pavlov. "Sylph" has a really catchy tunes - atmospheric and dynamic at the same time. Second chapter: "Mysterious Stories from the Kite Town" (brings me an associations with a Nosov's world-famous child`s book "The Adventures of Dunno and his Friends") centres around epic track "Journey Through the Looking Glass". It`s an art rock jewel - one of my favourite Karfagen tracks - reminds me outstanding epic "Mystery" from the previous album "Solitary Sandpiper Journey". I would like to emphasize the art work and production of the entire cd. So it`s highly recommended symphonic rock statement.

A virtually assembly line of symphonic prog, the Ukrainian band KARFAGEN led by the indefatigable Antony Kalugin has now released 19 full-length studio albums since the band debuted with the 2006 "Continuum." Half of these releases have come out since 2019 with three alone in 2020, three more in 2023 and so far in 2024 two! And it's only March! Someone has acquired Buckethead syndrome :/

MESSAGES FROM AFAR: SECOND NATURE is the first release of the year and features nine tracks at about 48 1/2 minutes but bonus tracks are also included on the CD version under the moniker Dmytro Ignatov who happens to be the electric and acoustic guitarist. While Kalugin dominates the soundscape with his fiery keyboard playing, the album features a wide range of guest musicians and singers that up to nine, one for each track! Concept-wise it's a sequel to 2017's "Messages from Afar: First Contact."

This is a band i've checked out periodically over the years to sample but not really kept up with simply because i tend to avoid bands that favor quantity over quality unless they aren't devoted to a single genre and have license to go anywhere they want. In the case of KARGAGEN the entire musical style is crafted within the realms of modern symphonic prog and although not unpleasant, not really a style of modern prog that gets my juices going therefore so many other artists to explore.

Being that this is one of the highest rated album from the KARFAGEN canon out of the band's existence, i figured that this might be the time to drop in, tune in and evaluate if the band had stepped things up a few notches from the monotonous cookie cutter albums of the past to something more dynamic that can keep my interest throughout its entire run. Lo and behold, as i checked this release out i have to admit that KARFAGEN has indeed stepped things up a few notches and went well beyond some of the overly aerie fairy princess prog of the past (sorry, that's what i call squeaky clean prog with no gonads.)

Like all of KARFAGEN's releases that i've experienced, MESSAGES FROM AFAR: SECOND NATURE is drenched in atmosphere and the entire shebang sort of sounds more like a neo-prog release in some ways with instantly catchy pop-flavored hooks, soaring guitar sweeps and nice comfy song structures that adhere to more modern traditional symphonic prog song structures a la Neil Morse or any of those symphonic prog acts that appear on the Colossus Project compilations. Once again KARFAGEN delivers soundtracks to fairytales that are dreamy and dripping with ambience and layered keyboard effects.

What's new, at least to me is the fact that not only did KARFAGEN offer a more diverse array of track styles on MESSAGES FROM AFAR: SECOND NATURE but added the accompanying sounds of jazz, classical guitar and vocal sections including a surprise cameo from Camel's bass player Colin Bass of all people! In other words, this release is a huge step up from the one's i've dabbled in previously however just like prolific artists such as Neal Morse, Buckethead, Alio Die, Brian Eno or The Residents, just to name a few, there is always a lot of filler with the occasional gem to be plucked from the overgrowth therefore careful selection is the key.

Well in this case, i'm actually quite pleased with how this album flows and how it keeps things interesting by offering varying tempos, time signature workouts and guests singers and sounds that weave their way into the overall mainframe. Add to that the songs are all interesting and even though the band has the same basic sound it always has, this one has enough spice to keep a hardcore progger like me entertained! While i wouldn't go as far as to say that i'm going to go back and check out every possible KARFAGEN album at this point but i will definitely be checking out the releases that are receiving the most positive reviews and ratings. A pleasant surprise for a band that i really wanted to write off! Great job, Mr Kalugin!