FROM.UZ

This fourth artifact from the Uzbekistan act Fromuz takes the band full circle to some extent, as this production is made with the same approach as most of their other releases are: a live recording supplemented with a DVD documenting the concert itself. One might even suspect them of doing the same as a band like the Canadian act Rush, who have used live albums to mark the end of each of their musical eras. Be that as it may be, for fans in particular the alternative, semi-acoustic arrangements used on this album will be the most important reason to purchase and explore this triple package. Most songs work fairly well explored in this context, and some are revitalized and arguably better than the original ones. Like the three albums previously released by this band, "Quartus Artifactus" is a high-quality release, and one easily recommended to existing fans and newcomers alike, the latter in particular if they would like to explore an eclectic, hard to define band, operating within a fusion/symphonic/folk framework on this occasion.

This is the second album from this Uzbek supergroup. A band listed as Eclectic prog because there is no label that really fits the music Fromuz has come up with here.

Seventh Story is an album. An album that reminds me about some of my old "this is what I did last year" photo albums with all kinds of photos bungled together in a disorder with only "last year" as the only concept that binds the photo album together. Just like Seventh Story in fact.

What we find on Seventh Story is prog metal, electronica, folk rock, neo prog, fusion, symphonic prog, eclectic and rock. I cannot really find a concept here. Not to mention; any cohesion or even a tube of glue.

Although this album is extreme varied in music styles and is far too varied and long in my opinion, there are some great stuff here. I like Fromuz best when they goes on the fusion/jazz warpath. The neo prog stuff is a bit odd. The prog metal stuff is generic. The folk rock stuff is also great. The rest is generic too.

In short, and far shorter than this album, this album is excellent value for money when it comes to variations of music and it's lenght. They could had named this album for The Fromuz Omnibus for that matter. The overall quality is good though. Check out this album if you are into everything big and varied.

3 stars

This is the last track released by Fromuz, a very interesting band from Uzbekistan that has gained recognition in the last years, thanks to their original and ambitious sound. "No more?" is a song that did not have room in their latest full-length album entitled "Quartus Artifactus" but that without a doubt is worth listening, and better, free-to-download-

It is a seven-minute composition that does not really have the sound that Fromuz usually offers; this is also an ambitious song, with a vast mixture of musical elements and genres. The first moments have a sense of tranquility, nice atmospheric sounds and textures that little by little are increasing until a completely new sound appears. The guitars and drums are aggressive in moments, and the vocals have a distinct sound. After two minutes we have a change, nice guitar and background keyboards for some seconds, then a fast piano sound and later a wonderful mellotron sound appears, in a passage that sounds terribly good, and terribly progressive.

The instrumental section shows the musician's quality and skills, we have a well-composed and structured track, with several inner changes that make evident the ambitions of the band, and how in one single track they manage to offer something really strong and interesting. In the last minute the vocals return and turn the song as it previously was, and continues like this until there are five seconds left, when it has a fast and progressive ending.

This is a very nice track from Fromuz, go and download it! The track itself deserves at least four stars, but I give to it three, you know, I don't usually rate with more than 3 stars singles or EPs.

Enjoy it!

Here is a single song from the Uzbekistani jazz fusion ensemble Fromuz (styled From.uz). Left off of their 2011 double album 'Quartus Artifactus', I can see why Fromuz may have wanted 'No More...' to take its own path, as the sound here is fairly different than what the album had in store. Whereas 'Quartus Artifactus' was primarily an instrumental jazz fusion affair, Fromuz uses a variety of different styles and fuses them all together into one eight minute song. The most striking thing about this song is the use of vocals, which is something I had heard Fromuz do a little bit on their latest LP, but it felt like an idea that was never really explored. 'No More...' proves to me that Fromuz should certainly check into this sound more, the vocals really compliment the more traditional prog sound they have here. On top of melodies and soaring vocals that sound almost spotted from neo-prog, there is still the impressive jazz musicianship in the technical instrumental sections. A very good song with enough ideas to call it something of a mini-epic. Great stuff!

Although music has opened me up to other cultures and countries like nothing else, I cannot say I had yet heard a band from Uzbekistan before hearing Fromuz, a talented fusion rock quintet from Tashkent. With 'Quartus Artifactus', the band introduces themselves to me through a sprawling hundred minute exploration of guitar-based jazz fusion, and folkish instrumentation. If anything, Fromuz is a band with a great deal of skill and potential in their sound, as can be heard clearly with this, their third full-length album. Although much of this mostly instrumental album presents some very interesting ideas and even gets great chemistry going on in parts though, Fromuz could do with some editing in their sound. Make no mistake, 'Quartus Artifactus' is a long album- arguably too long for its own good- and had they condensed this hundred minute foray by cutting out the less necessary aspects of the music, I would have even more great things to say about the band's music.

Being from a part of the world that is steeped in folk music tradition, Fromuz takes alot of influence from their roots as people of Uzbekistan, and merges those local musical flavours with jazzy band chemistry and longform instrumental noodlings. With the exception of a short interlude song towards the beginning of 'Artifactus' called 'A Perfect Place', Fromuz is entirely instrumental here, and although the vocals at work there are nothing special, it can feel somewhat awkward to have an aspect of the band come and go within a percent of the record. Fromuz does have a tendency to take up interesting ideas and discard them before long, but while the band's use of ideas is not the greatest, the little musical concepts throughout 'Quartus Artifactus' keep the music engaging. The music generally flows through what largely sounds like a mix of improvisations and triggered cues, but having something like an Indian raga breakdown fall in the middle of a jazzy section is not usually expected.

If Fromuz has one thing going for them, its their abilities as musicians. Especially in terms of the adept guitar work, the band manages to fashion melodic and pleasant solos, merging them very nicely into the sometimes very complex rhythm section. Sadly, the production here- while clear-sounding enough- feels incredibly dry, and does not do well to convey the emotional intensity that the musicians quite clearly have with their music. It would be excellent to hear Fromuz edit and refine their sound somewhat, in order to capture the great things about them without having to make such a longwinded trip to get there. At a hundred minutes, 'Quartus Artifactus' can often feel as if it takes two or three times longer than it should to make a statement, but while not everything this album has to offer is a winner, there are enough excellent musical ideas to look into the record.

On their 'normal' albums, From.uz plays a style heavy-edged jazz fusion/prog rock, but the music here is acoustic jazz/prog fusion. Though relentlessly complex and technically demanding, the atmosphere is generally light and upbeat. There are a few ominous sections, but most of the time I'm reminded of acts like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa, or Billy Cobham (around the Spectrum-era). The vast majority of the album is instrumental, but a few vocal sections help add some nice variation into the mix. Most of the songs here are extremely strong and filled with memorable riffs and inventive solos, but it does occasionally drag on a bit longer than necessary. Almost all of the songs here exceed the 9 minute mark, and the 100 minute playing time can make for a difficult listen in one sitting. A song like the 16-minute 'Desert Circle' could have easily been shortened by a few minutes. With that said, From.uz is certainly capable of creating masterful epics, seeing that the near 20-minute 'Parallels' is one of the finest jazz rock epics I've ever heard. Talk about some excellent riffs in that one!

One of the most intriguing parts about Quartus Artifactus is the spectacular musicianship across the board. There isn't a weak link in the whole band, and every member is fun to listen to individually or collectively as part of a full musical experience. Watching these guys play on the DVD included with the album is absolutely breathtaking! The production is also warm, organic, and professional. This is how all jazz/prog fusion should sound!

All in all, Quartus Artifactus is a spectacular double album from From.uz, and surely an essential purchase for those who enjoy acoustic jazz rock. Make no mistake; this is by no means a half-assed remake to capitalize on the success of the band's previous efforts. All fans of the band, as well as newcomers alike, are recommended to get this one as soon as possible. 4 stars are deserved for this great album. 10T Records is becoming one of the most consistent labels in the prog rock scene, and Quartus Artifactus is yet another winner in their catalog!

First of all, this is not an easy album. It's lengthy and requires some attention, too, but please don't be misleaded by the psychedelic opener. "Perfect Place" starts with screams and noises like a Ron Geesin's track then after a couple of minutes it becomes an acoustic ballad reminding to Porcupine Tree.

Well, this is not what you'll find in the rest of the album. A 20 minutes piece "Parallels" starts over the fading notes of the previous track with a compulsive drumming with an unusual signature backed by a dark keyboard sound, then guitar and bass add a touch of metal, maybe. A very eclectic and maybe experimental opening. I think to King Crimson for the mood. Anyway this is an epic with several different moments. It turns into symphonic, it has more rock moments and has also a lot of jazz inside. Not easy to be classified in a single genre. The section around minute 11 which is followed by vocals is dark and slow but powerful at the same time, then it returns to where it started. it's a great track good for a large range of tastes.

The following track is opened by a dull dialog with keyboards in the background. Very floydian in the sense of DSOTM or The Wall, but it's just how it starts. After a bit more than one minute, when the voices quit and the guitar starts an impressive solo on a minor organ chord, this is not Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The guitar is powerful and bluesy at the same time. "Desert Circle" is another long track of about 14 minutes in length and respect to the previous epic is not dark. It's symphonic instead. The slow regular tempo makes it slide pleasantly while the guitar is sustained by some electronics. At minute 6 it drastically changes to acoustic blues-rock, so that when bass and drums enter the scene turning into jazz is quite easy. Good jazz/fusion very well played. As I have written in my previous reviews of this band, fusion is the genre in which they are excellent. In less than 10 minutes we moved from Pink Floyd to Tommy Flanagan...and it's not finished here. There's room for a drum's solo with spacey noises which lead to a Spanish guitar. Then back to the main theme. Then a light metal part with a guitar reminding to Eddie Van Halen with dark interludes on an easy melody. The good is that the passages between sections are well arranged, but giving an identity to this track is not an easy job.

A short track now. "Bell of the Earth" is opened by bells which play a very melodic "untuned" tune with piano and keyboards. Vangelis would surely like this track.

Another long track: the over 18 minutes of "Taken" open in a restaurant, probably. A man and a woman speak and laugh over a piano melody. When they finally quit speaking what remains is a good piano solo. Two minutes of neo-prog interrupted by a deadly bell. What comes after is nothing but progressive rock. Uptime, heavy, fast, with unusual progression of chords but without losing harmony. As it happens in the best jazz let's say. This is probably the reason why this band is struggling in finding fans. They maybe put too much in their composition. This is not a band thing usually, and is not bad also here, but you have to be open-minded enough to appreciate them all. The symphonic section around minutes 7 to 9 is excellent, then the piano is left alone again to reprise what is now clearly the main theme. The bells are now "harmonics", no longer deadly. When the piano stopos, surprise! An heavy metal section that reminds me the Tuatha De Danann in their less celtic moments with the addition of a Wakemanish keyboard. and we are only at 2/3 of the total time... We can also hear a guitar playing in 32th for a while and alternate with keyboard. It rocks! Melodic singing at minute 14. You can spot a good bass work behind. A mention to the distorted voice. It's the first time that I hear a voice distortion outside of Senmuth's discography, but I really prefer the use of it made by FromUz. In the coda there's room for another uptime moment.

An average long track (11 minutes) starts with water sounds and morse signals, but what comes later is pure jazz. Great fusion here. The kind of things that caused FromUz to be put into the JR/F section on PA. My favourite track in this album.Fusion can't be described. Just listen and enjoy. Of source also this track has changes, but it never goes too far from fusion, even in the most symphonic moments in the central part of the song when the guitar cries long notes.

Spacey sounds for the closer. "Perfect love" takes a while to start, then the melody that's the main theme of the whole album is represented in a "looped" form, like it was played backwards on a tape. I don't hear satanic messages, even if some strange voices in the background could make some legends start. They seem to be the same voices of the restaurant...then a phone like often in Pink Floyd or in Marillion's Chelsea Monday. The album closes as it started, as there was a concept behind.I didn't catch it. I didn't take too much care to the lyrics, but this coming and going of spare parts gives me the impression of a concept album. A gong and it's done.

A complex but highly enjoyable album which contains too much elements, maybe and this makes it not easy to be followed, but let it grow inside you and you won't be unsatisfied.

The album starts with electronic sounds that after a couple of minutes are muted into a jazzy piece with odd signatures, dark ambient and a flavour of Canterbury. In the middle there's a bit of distorted guitar, that's what makes me think to an "eclectic" mare than to a JR/F band. However "Intro" is a great opener. Its merit is to contain even if in a disordered manner, most of the elements that are typical of the band's sound, from electronic to rock passing through jazz.

"From Fromuz" is a jazz-rock instrumental, at least for the first minutes, before a guitar solo adds a touch of blues. Then guitar and drums remain alone for a very jazz moment. A great number from a technical point of view. The guitar solo grows in a solo that seems coming from the 70s rock. It's amazing how so many different things can be included in a single track without giving the impression of being a patchwork. Bass and piano play another jazz number at minute 7. The jazz side of FROMUZ is fantastic. The guitar interrupts the dialog to return to the main theme and the song goes to its end.

"Wax Inhabitants Town" has an electronic opening that reminds to Vangelis, specially when the melody is driven by the high pitched sound of the keyboard. When the guitar starts the mediterranean mood disappeares and we are back to electronic prog. The drums are electronic, too. At minute 5 it becomes darker with the distorted guitar and the regular drums, but it's just a passage which connects to another slow moment. I feel the Canterbury element present also in this track at least until minute 8. At this point another rock passage leads into another "movement". This is the first time in which the music has a bit of "Middle East" flavour. Far from being ethnic, anyway. The coda is rock. If we don't consider the first 5 minutes we can say that the main recurring theme is the "dark rock connection".

"Gameplay Imitation" is one of the highlights. I really like the sounds used and the rhythmic parts. As the opener, it as many different parts which are connected by "sliding transitions". I mean that there are no holes in the music's continuity. This is not an easy track. It requires the listener's attention, and this is what I like in prog.

"Spare Wheel" is a strange track. The keyboard's "whistle" seems taken by a 70s B-movie, but it's accompanied by a heavy instrumentation. I have in mind the Ryo Okumoto's solo albums. They are on similar ambients. How can I describe it? Eclectic fusion maybe? Spacey sounds and a great guitar work for the second heavier part of the track.

"Familiarization Results" is another example of "heavy jazz". The start is heavy and uptime, then in the middle the tempo slows down, I'm not sure but I think it's 5/4, some stops and go with drums and the heavy part restarts. We can now here vocal effects. I can't understand either a single word but it's part of the track. It comes at the right time in the right way. The coda is a crescendo of heaviness.

Violins are the opener of "Harry Heller Theater". A sort of string quartet that leaves to scene to drum and heavy guitar. If until now what I have heard was reminding me to the late Soft Machine, this track is between Yes and King Crimson (those with Lake). Fantastic guitar and a soft touch of neo-prog, maybe. At least in the less rhythmic parts. I want to underline the fact that mentioning other famous bands is only to try giving an idea of the kind of music. FROMUZ is an original band with its own sound. The fusion between jazz and heavy rock is a distinctive and original tract of the band.

The closer "Babylon Dreams" is a little bit heavier. Here I can't identify a specific band to compare them. For the kind of composition and the musical passages the closer is the Finnish Pekka Pohjola, with a particular reference to his Mathematical Air Display. The Harpsichord interlude is something that can make think to Pekka and his band Wigwam. A short guitar interlude and a short drum solo are there to break the rhythm that suddenly reprises and later gives room to a speacey section of keyboard and drums, very similar to what's done in the "Intro", like closing a circle, followed by a powerful guitar solo to the conclusion.

In brief, this is a very good album full of good music. One that requires attention, but non too much. What is missed is the "li ve ambient". I know that it's a live only because it's written on PA, but there is no public noise or applauses, like it has been recorded in a club, but the sound is too powerful for a club. It sounds like a studio album, effectively.

I'm currently rating it with 4 stars, only because before giving 5 stars to an album I need more listens. In case I'll update this review later. For me it's currently an excellent addition.

It's immediately clear that Overlook is rock. A rock of a kind not easy to define. The guitar is hard enough to think of progressive metal in the vein of Ayreon, but they are more eclectic. Their music is sometimes symphonic, sometimes folky. Surely there's nothing that can make one think that they are FROM UZbekistan.

The album contains five long tracks for a total of about 70 minutes.

"Stone Salad" has many different moments but there are no discontinuities. In this sense it's symphonic. The guitar solos are good and essential. The keyboard background is loudy and the passages are never trivial. The changes in the signature don't come frequently. The only discontinuity is when the (clean) guitar is left alone after 8:30 minutes and for about four minutes, helped only by bass, little drums and background noises in making jazzy chords. A bit of experimentalism that I really like. It depends on tastes, but it's the part of the song that I prefer and the way used to return to the main team is excellent. Just few guitar chords in the right moment and at the right volume and the listener is back to where it started without understanding how, at least at the first listens. An excellent beginning.

"Other Side Of The Water" starts spacey. A low-pitched keyboard's chord with background noises and percussions. The theme reminds me of Senmuth, even when after about 3 minutes the drummer adds rhythm. Just few minutes and I understand why Fromuz are in the fusion section. After a quick moment of silence we are back to rock. I can't find another band to compare them with. There's something in the bass line that makes me think to Ummagumma, but the guitar sometimes sounds like Trevor Rabin's. Give up to uneasy comparisons or attempts of classifying them, this is prog with no doubts. What comes after minute 10 has effectively something floydian (Animals) before the rock coda closed by piano.

"Crashmind" has a stunning intro with metal suggestions. It initially reminds me (but it's just a concidence) to "Come Corpo Morto Cade", a song from Greenwall present on the first CD of the Dante's Inferno compilation. Heavy instrumental prog, with changes and odd signatures. In the middle it calms down and there's a good guitar number. Just an interlude before returning to the heavy side for a while. A jazzy interlude of bass and drums then rock again. The last minute is melodic but powerful. Just a little touch of Porcupine Tree, then a piano coda.

"13th August" . Here they are like nobody else, at least in the intro. The melodic part which follows has a keyboard background with echoes and reverbs and the vocalisms add a lot to the song. A sudden change and the unusual signature brings us "close to the edge". Not that they have anything to do with YES. If I have to compare them to one of the bigs, I think King Crimson are probably more appropriate. The only defect that I find in this track is its discontinuity. It doesn't flow from one part to the following as the opener. Here the changes come suddenly breaking the continuity. The jazz part with the trumpet is great and unfortunately too short, but what follows is good as wellm but with those sudden changes and returns that characterize the whole track. It's apity because all the single parts taken alone are excellent.

"Return to W.I.T." is the longest track. It's opened by a violin (synthetic?) which plays alone, then harpsichord, bass and bells. There's some flavour of early Genesis for the first 5 minutes, then the colours become darker. Almost psychedelic at minute 6 and some seconds. At Minute 11 starts a bolero tempo. Some seconds and the guitar enters. Also this track is made of many different parts, somewhat disconnected, but FROMUZ took more care to the transitions. This is a track made of many ingredients and reminds to the other tracks of the album. The slow coda is very good, too.

Don't expect fusion, the genre is misleading. It's a very good album containing different styles, maybe eclectic. A very pleasant discovery which can find room in ANY prog collection.

4+stars.