RAINY SEASON

I'm not up to speed with Russia's Progressive scene but this release from 1992 has to be considered a classic and one of the early Prog albums from that nation.The band is from St.Petersburg and is basically two guys with a few guests helping out. Maxim the guitarist is the creative force behind RAINY SEASON. We get three long tracks over 41 plus minutes.This is their debut and they've released two others since this one.The band played in many concerts and festivals during the eighties before making this record.

"Scents Of A Forest" is a title that makes me use my imagination since it's -17 and snowy here this morning. Flute and atmospheric background sounds early. Guitar before 2 1/2 minutes then it turns intense briefly before settling back then percussion joins in. A nice relaxing tune for the most part. "Towards A Clear Water" opens with faint spacey sounds and it's kind of haunting. Atmosphere rolls in before 2 minutes.The tempo picks up before 3 1/2 minutes and the guitar sort of cries out with a beat. Bass and synths arrive after 6 minutes.The guitar is winding out pretty good before 8 minutes. Nice. Synths are back when the guitar stops. Drums follow and some vocal melodies arrive around 13 minutes.The final minute features a powerful atmosphere with no beat.

"Red Night" is the 20 minute side long suite. It opens with the sound of someone walking as spacey sounds come and go. Lots of atmosphere after 3 minutes.Then we get this beat coming out of the darkness. A change in sound after 8 minutes then it kicks in louder with drums. It settles quickly though as synths pulse slowly and vocal melodies join in. Cool sound. A change 12 minutes in with experimental sounds coming and going. Drums are back after 13 minutes. Another change before 16 1/2 minutes as the tempo picks up and the guitar leads as the drums pound. A spacey atmosphere ends the song and then the sound of someone walking (like the intro) officially ends the album.

A solid 4 star album that fans of spacey psychedelia should enjoy.

This LP was real surprise to me . I bought it not knowing anyhting about them - and now they rae one of my favourite bands. they play a very unusualu kind of music i can only describe as Prog-Ambient! Taking a very interesting approach to instrumentation with glockenspiels and xylophones adding to the more usual guitars and keyboards. The Return is full of atmospheric music, ideal as cinematic soundtracks, and a spacey feel dominates. Side one is very Floyd-like ethereal keyboards and gently plinked pianos and guitars - a moddy soundscape not unlike Spain's Neuronium, Wish You Were Here-era Floyd or the better parts of Tangerine Dream's output. only two long tracks occupy Side One - Side Two has just one long dark 20 minute opus - a pulsating Heldon-like piece that gradually gaines power as the full band crash in - Aswell as Heldon, similarites with Austria's brilliant sound sculptor GANDALF, and the best of brain Eno can be found. the Eno touch is especially transparent on Side Two were the piece originally builds out of strange sonic textures, like shards of glass or something glistening. It really is a very rich sonic experience this LP. There is no fast, virtuoso showmanship, just great textures and building dynamics - mysterious space-rock and ethereal trance-rock. One to relish in the dark - just you and your mind. Overall - a greeat obcure band waiting to be discovered again and again.

I like the opening haunting flute track which reminds me of Jade Warrior. The rest of the CD is I suppose good for its genre ,but its not really to my taste as a consequence I have only played it a few times.I suspect that it might become more enjoyable if I persevere, only trouble is ,the first listenings give me no inclination to do so.

"Return" was recorded in 1992 by the unique Russian group RAINY SEASON This 40-minute album consists of three tracks (20, 14, and 7-minutes). The music seemed quite strange to me at first. My ears were treated to music of an ambient nature. Instruments like the flute, glockenspiel, triangle, woodblocks seemed to try to escape from their echo-y, reverb-drenched, world without success. The overall atmosphere seemed mellow, haunting, and ZEN-like. At other times, I could hear guitar, and various spacy synth-like effects. Soon, however, new detail started to emerge after each listen. This music might not appeal to most prog fans, but the album needs repeated plays to appreciate. Overall, "Return" is recommended to ambient, electronic, and/or movie soundtrack fans.

RAINY SEASON's "Return" was their crowning moment and represents a wonderful mix of space, ambient and electronic progressive rock. This album consists of three long cuts. The first two were obviously Side 1 of the original LP, and the third was a side-long cut on Side 2. The first two cuts I would describe as GONG meets PINK FLOYD with some KLAUS SCHULZE tossed in for effects. The guitar work is slowly soloed over a heavy dark tapestry of space vibes. The total effect is something like a slowed down version of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" without the drums and vocals. The third track focuses much more on an electronic texture aka TANGERINE DREAM with a nice long exploratory 20 mins song. The atmosphere created is dark and forboding very representative of the bands dark album cover and title "Rainy Season". In many ways this last track actually runs along like horror movie soundtrack. Overall "Return" is a well recorded album with some nice deep tones and self reflexive melodies.