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Raff 
Special Collaborator 
Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24391 |
 Posted: August 20 2015 at 14:54 |
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If I can add my own 2 cents, I have listened to the album, and been favourably impressed. The album was also recommended by one of my fellow DPRP reviewers for our weekly Something for the Weekend? feature (second link in my sig). That being said, my personal idea of prog tends to be broader than many people's, and the fact that I liked the album does not mean it must be added at all costs.
Regarding the old "long songs = prog" chestnut, there are lots of bands that are not on PA who produced songs over 10 minutes long. To name but a few, Dire Straits ("Telegraph Road"), Neil Young ("Natural Beauty"), the Allman Brothers Band, even Guns 'n' Roses. In fact, we have had rather unlikely bands or artists suggested for addition merely on the strength of those long songs. |
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie 
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: August 22 2015 at 01:05 |
 So many good responses! Thank you guys! Hope to be accepted here someday. Motorpsycho is one of our favorite bands indeed but we are more metal and doom then them I guess
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: August 30 2015 at 02:21 |
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Few more  My introduction to St. Petersburg, Russia based The Grand Astoria was through their contribution to the Fruits de Mer Records Strange Fish compilation and a cover of Can’s Oh Yeah to the Fruits de Mer Roqueting Through Space collection. Headed up by Kamille Sharapodinov (who does double duty with his Organic is Orgasmic project), The Grand Astoria includes multiple musicians on guitars, keyboards, synths, Rhodes, piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, drums and percussion. The Mighty Few is their latest and consists of two epic length tracks. The music defies simple description as The Grand Astoria incorporates multiple stylistic influences, both in combination and as they transition through multiple themes. The 28 minute Curse Of The Ninth kicks off in atmospheric Doom-Jazz mode, if you can envision that description. But what starts off led by sax and Rhodes quickly switches gears as the band launches into a Stoner-Metal dirge with solid rocking vocals and cool fuzz-wah’d Psych guitar. But nothing sits still for long as an abrupt flute and acoustic guitar transitional bit leads to a steadily rolling Prog-Jazz jam that retains a wee bit of the tension-laden stoned vibe and includes trippy soundscape guitar embellishment. I really dig the use of the Rhodes and clarinet. Nice male and female vocals. The compositions and arrangements are sophisticated in grand Prog tradition, but there’s also a cool grooving flow that maintains a nice jamming feel. And sure enough, the band eventually veer back into Prog infused Stoner-Metal territory, which soon soars into space as the Psychedelic-Metal guitar and rhythm section gallop along frantically with schools of rushing synths and wildly oscillating electronics whizzing by. And on we go. Wow, 28 minutes of head-spinning compositional and thematic gymnastics that deftly integrates Prog, Jazz, Psychedelia, Metal and more. The 21 minute The Siege is next and starts off as a Prog, Space Rock and twin guitar Hard Rock and Fuzz-Metal edged rocker, which soon shifts to a funky Jazz groove and vocal number. My favorite part is the hair-raising Psychedelic Prog-Metal segment that’s like an orchestral marching battalion, which ends up going totally acid molten lava eruptive and sounds especially insane with the horns blaring along with the volcanic intensity. And when the assault subsides the music gets downright ambient meditative, before starting fresh with a spirited Prog instrumental with Jazz bits and spaced out effects. And just as the music is bouncing along with a spring in its step… BAM!! We’re slammed with a high powered symphonic Prog-Metal offensive. Ya gotta love these guys. If what I’ve described sounds like a lot of oddball transitions I can tell you that The Grand Astoria make it all cohesively connected and pretty damn exciting. Even with only the Fruits de Mer recordings to compare with there is clearly a lot of varied music that The Grand Astoria are capable of, and looking at their Bandcamp page there are a LOT of previous selections to explore. - AURAL INNOVATIONS A sorprendere sono innanzi tutto le dimensioni: due soli pezzi, della durata di oltre 20 minuti ciascuno, suonati da un piccolo ensemble di nove persone, che comprende, oltre a chitarra, basso e batteria, diversi strumenti jazz (piano, clarinetto, tromba, sassofono), con l’aggiunta di percussioni e qualche strumento elettronico qua e la. Il disco si apre con la monumentale “Curse of the Ninth”, un’odissea di oltre 28 minuti. Introdotta da un inquietante fraseggio di chitarra, a cui si uniscono melliflui il basso, la batteria, il sax e le tastiere, dopo diverse “false partenze” il pezzo esplode in un riff granitico, che si collega chiaramente con le radici stoner rock del gruppo. Le voci, potenti e urlate, ricalcano quelle dei gruppi hard rock degli anni ’70 (UFO, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad,…). Dopo quasi 7 minuti interviene un soave arpeggio di chitarra dal sapore orientale, a cui si unisce un fraseggio di flauto dolce. Immediatamente questo è sostituito da un ostinato da basso, percussioni e tastiere, che ricorda fin troppo le atmosfere di “Bitches Brew”, e che procede per altri 8 minuti, tra variazioni, assoli di fiati e incursioni del cantato. Dopodiché le chitarre si fanno di nuovo distorte, con un riffone alla Black Sabbath che funge da ponte per il momento più psichedelico del pezzo, in cui chitarre orientaleggianti ed effetti elettronici, talvolta molto pesanti, ci riportano alle atmosfere acide di gruppi come Gong e Ozric Tentacles. Il pezzo continua tra incursioni nell’heavy metal e cori dal sapore liturgico, per chiudersi con una ripresa del riff iniziale e del fraseggio orientale di chitarra e flauto. Ma è il secondo brano, a mio avviso, il più riuscito dei due: meno ripetitivo e dallo sviluppo più organico, “The Siege” è una vera e propria rappresentazione dell’assedio (“siege”) che il caos muove all’ordine. Il pezzo entra immediatamente nel vivo, con una cavalcata di chitarre, batteria ed elettronica, che si chiude con un ostinato, la cui forte tensione si risolve (con un pizzico di ironia), in una sezione dal retrogusto caraibico, alla Santana, in cui a far da padrone sono la chitarra, la tromba e le percussioni. Questa atmosfera placida viene bruscamente interrotta al minuto 7:36 da una chitarra roboante, a cui si aggiungono pian piano gli altri strumenti, in un crescendo di dissonanza e caos, a cui contribuiscono le voci sempre più scomposte e deliranti. La cacofonia raggiunge il suo apice intorno all’undicesimo minuto, per poi concludersi in una persistenza di chitarre lancinanti, scandita da sporadiche ma frastornanti incursioni di basso e batteria, in un delirio inquieto che ricorda gli Swans di “The Seer”. Segue un silenzio interrotto da qualche accordo stralunato e da una voce quasi sussurrata. Il pezzo riprende vigore intorno al sedicesimo minuto, con un arpeggio di chitarra in cinque ottavi, a cui si accompagnano fraseggi di basso, e che in seguito si sovrappone a una sezione in nove quarti. La musica torna a farsi caotica e frastornante: ma il caos questa volta si risolve in un festoso riff hard rock, che prosegue, dissolvendosi lentamente, fino alla fine del brano. Non sempre scorrevole, talvolta un po’ monotono (specialmente nel primo dei due brani), quest’album sa comunque stupire, regalando alcuni momenti di autentico genio e riuscendo a conciliare mondi tra loro lontanissimi. Non posso che dare quindi un giudizio positivo, per uno degli album più originali e sorprendenti ascoltati quest’anno. - GOOD OLD NEW MUSIC Get the CD from [email protected]
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Rivertree
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Band Submissions Joined: March 22 2006 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 17571 |
Posted: August 30 2015 at 16:01 |
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I've submitted this to Eclectic Team now due to the cornucopia of prog styles the album is made of ...
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: August 31 2015 at 13:14 |
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Thank you! Hope people will like it
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: September 04 2015 at 02:55 |
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Hey folks! The band just released the new acoustic album
Check it out! |
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: September 17 2015 at 01:53 |
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New electric single! Check it out if you are into heavy psych
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: November 24 2015 at 11:21 |
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More reviews!
Since its inception doom metal has undergone many facelifts over the last 45 years. What started out a a bluesy rooted sound pioneered by Black Sabbath has certainly stretched into other sub-generes. Some of it has gone deathy while some of it has followed in the footsteps of a symphony orchestra and/or jazz ensemble. This is the path Russian band The Grand Astoria has done with their album The Mighty Few. The Grand Astoria The Might Few is only two 20+ minute tracks. In no way is the listener swerved nor robbed of a full plush listening experience. The Grand Astoria manage to say more instrumentally and lyrically within the confines of these two tracks than most bands do with 8-10 tracks at 5+ minutes do. The Grand Astoria The Mighty Few also begins my Psychedelic Supper November. Meaning most of the music will be of a psychedelic sound that also gets into improvisational music as well. Let's explore the The Grand Astoria's The Might Few. Curse Of The Ninth begins with a deep tuned down bass passage with a saxophone underbelly. This goes on for the first two minutes. At the 2:00 mark the track takes a more conventional and traditional doom laden groove passage. A doom passage more rooted in progressive metal than blues. Soon a vocal enters that reminds me a lot of the early Candlemass and Trouble. I am not sure if it is intentional but the track has a appearance of a twin guitar with a deep bass/drum rhythmic layer. About the 8:00 mark the track takes on a heavy jazz ensemble progression with a trumpet and alto saxophone blended wonderfully with a keyboard driven passage. Their is a nice groove touch with guitars coming in at appropriate places and various times with in the jazz signature. At the 15:00 mark the track takes jazz ensemble and doom metal exchanges as far as the lead goes. For the better part of the next 5 minutes there is a progressive doom metal and psychedelic rock interchange back and forth leaving the listener in suspense and awe. At the 18:00 mark the doom metal starts to tapper into and more fuzz pattern with a psychedelic moog mellotron at work before taking a more conventional doom metal passage around the 19:00 mark. After that it is a series of straight away doom metal and progressive time signatures at work in a pattern of exchange. About the 21:00 mark the track takes a instrumental break and is lead more by vocal chants. Slowly the instrumental comes back in play. There are sound effects that give the composition a cosmic inter galactic sound as well before going back to straight up progressive doom metal. The Siege starts out with a straight away driving doom metal progression. It contains mellotron and hammond style organs for the keyboards. It sounds like a more old school Deep Purple meets Black Sabbath with a twist of Yes. About the 1:25 mark the keyboard takes a more clean and synth approach for about :30 seconds. At the 2:00 mark the track is a melodically methodical track. At the 2:30 mark the jazz ensemble that seems to be a staple within the sound of the band appears. The lyrical passages take on a more Occult Rock passage. At the 3:00 mark the vocal kicks in with a very early Floydian later TOOL influence. Around the 5:00 mark the vocal reminds me a lot of Steely Dan. Around the 7:40 mark the doom metal passage takes a very post rock flavor about with a abstract tuned down fuzzy instrumental with a faded vocal that sounds manipulated through a megaphone. The Siege has more of the emphasis on the heavier doom metal and fuzzy distorted elements more so than the psychedelic elements Curse Of The Ninth had. The fore mentioned elements take nothing away from the depth The Siege still brings. The Grand Astoria The Mighty Few had a lot of original arranged portions. Much like the progressive rock, acid psychedelic rock and doom metal of 40 years ago, The Grand Astoria have something in 2015 with The Mighty Few that will stand the test of time in 2045-2055. I give this a 4/5 for the well arranged elements. - POWER OF PROG Могучая кучка петербургских музыкантов The Grand Astoria, выступающая под руководством неизменного автора проекта Камиля Шараподинова, представляет в обновлённом составе шестой полноформатный альбом "The Mighty Few". На этот раз слушателей, постоянно следящих за творчеством команды, в который раз ждёт кое-что новое. В альбом вошло две, без малого, получасовых композиции, что, конечно, не смутит тех, кто знаком с прошлогодним сплит-альбомом The Grand Astoria и аргентинцев Montenegro. Первая песня "Curse of the Ninth" – это вариации на тему "проклятья девятой симфонии", по поверью, последней для целого ряда маститых композиторов прошлого, начало этой традиции положил Бетховен. Его загробные путешествия нашли своё отражение в тексте этой композиции, первая часть которой изложена в форме классического, с итальянским прогрессивным акцентом, doom metal/rock. Все перипетии сюжета изложены Камилем на странице группы в соцсети, поэтому воздержусь от пересказа. The Grand Astoria на этой записи в который раз отошли от стандартов обычной песенной формы, и многие уже окрестили "The Mighty Few" двухчастной рок-симфонией, на что очень толсто намекает с самой обложки извечный маскот проекта – черепоголовый Ugly Billy. Тридцать минут эфирного времени, заполненные оригинальными музыкальными упражнениями, проходят довольно быстро. Но, поиграв бицепсами и показав себя в знакомой слушателю ипостаси, The Grand Astoria переходят к программе более специфической дисциплины. Вторая композиция релиза "The Siege" уводит нас ещё дальше от привычных рок-формулировок. Прог-псайк-джаз-рок-фанк хороши по отдельности и часто не менее хороши вместе, взятые в различном долевом соотношении, но скажу честно – какофония в средней части "The Siege" на лютых нойз-джазовых импровизациях и эмоциональной декламацией стала для меня испытанием. Приходиться успевать следить за плавными, но достаточно быстрыми жанровыми переходами музыкантов и не давать мозгам расслабляться. В композиции также можно услышать инструментальные и вокальные приёмы, характерные для проекта Flower Punk, в рамках которого Камиль выступает со вторым вокалистом The Grand Astoria Данилой и, опять же, приглашёнными музыкантами. К слову, вклад приглашённых музыкантов в Mighty Few играет одну из ключевых ролей, ведь благодаря им мы слышим на альбоме кларнет, пианино, трубу, саксофон, перкуссию... И эти инструменты, подчеркну, играют на альбоме далеко не эпизодические роли. Если на последнем получасовом эпик-номере "The Body Limits" (тот самый сплит The Grand Astoria и Montenegro) разнообразие стилей было выдержано в рамках, грубо говоря, двух-трёх смежных музыкальных направлений, то обе композиции "The Mighty Few" вобрали в себя куда больший спектр влияний. С одной стороны все межжанровые переходы исполнены ровно и профессионально, с другой стороны, лично мне было сложно переключаться между ними, и с какого-то момента стало рябить в ушах. "The Mighty Few" – это большой, довольно смелый, логичный и успешный эксперимент The Grand Astoria. Однако даже в сравнении с рядом последних, тоже непростых работ Камиля альбом звучит масштабнее и сложнее. Наверное, проект слишком быстро меняется, и чтобы идти в ногу с этой эволюцией слушателю могут понадобиться внимание, время и готовность к восприятию нового - METAL LIBRARY Die einzige Möglichkeit, in diesen Tagen noch etwas Neues zu generieren, besteht darin, Altes neu zu verknüpfen. An diese Weisheit halten sich The Grand Astoria aus St. Petersburg, deren jüngstes Zwei-Track-Album dank des italienischen Psychedelic-Labels Vincebus Eruptum jetzt auch auf Vinyl erscheint, lustigerweise mit drei Tracks, aber dazu später mehr. Und wenn heutzutage Sachen vermengt werden, kommt meistens etwas dabei heraus, das sich grob als progressiv einsortieren lässt. Psychedelik und Progressivität wachsen eben auf derselben Seite des Stammbaums. Hier findet sich also grob gesagt aus Loops zusammengefügte schleppende Rockmusik, versetzt mit Irish Folk, Sludge, Classic Rock, Stoner, Jazz und vielem mehr. Der Band gelingt nun das kleine Kunststück, diese Elemente nicht wie Bauklötze nebeneinander aufzureihen, sondern sie schlüssig flüssig zu ineinanderfließen zu lassen. Das Grundgerüst auch auf dem sechsten Album der Band ist und bleibt die Rockmusik. Aus einem langsam riffenden Stück wird munterer Artrock mit Fusion-Einschlag, das dezent tupfende auf vintage programmierte Keyboard über den sich wiederholenden Passagen erzeugt Ölscheibenprojektionen vor dem inneren Auge. Interessant ist, dass die Gesangsstimme in den eher an Led Zeppelin erinnernden ersten Passagen so hoch rufend erklingt, dass sie zunächst verstört und erst beim wiederholten Hören vom längst konditionierten Ohr herbeigesehnt wird, und später dann an zeitgenössische Neoprogger angelehnt nachdenklich-intellektuell-mild mit einer Frauenstimme zu wetteifern. Im Anschluss wird die Musik galoppierend wie in der NWoBHM und wild psychedelisch spacig, dann in eine Art russischen Choralgesang übergehend und fürderhin mit kapriolenschlagendem Bass zum Ausgangsmaterial zurückkehrend. Nach ein paar weiteren Flötentönen ist dann eine gute halbe Stunde um. Track zwei startet deutlich agiler, fast verspielt, dabei Schellenkränze bedienend. Aus einem Grungerock wird Funk mit Jazztrompete. Eine verfremdete Steve-Wilson-Stimme führt in eine musikalisch reduziertere Siebziger-Ecke mit mehrstimmigem Gesang. Langsam steigert sich die Opulenz, untermalt von einem Marschrhythmus, der allmählich in einen Dronerock übergeht, wie ihn Spacemen 3 oder Spiritualized vorgemacht haben, also inklusive dissonanter Trompeten. Das Ganze versinkt in einer Pause, aus der es eine filigrane Marillion-Gitarre mit Klarinette wiedererweckt. Die zunächst entspannende Musik bekommt nun eine Schieflage, vom quäkenden Saxophon zurück in den Rock geholt. Von jubilierenden Stimmen begleitet, schwappt der Track in den bläsergestützten Heavyrock zurück. Kurz vor Schluss wird die Musik erstmals beinahe poppig. Bis dahin verzichtet die Band nämlich auf den guten Groove und verlegt sich auf den Effekt der Wiederholung. Das aber so subtil, dass selten über längere Zeit ganze Passagen rotieren, sondern lediglich deren Elemente, der Basslauf etwa, der Rhythmus, ein Melodiesegment. Andere Arrangements greifen manche Elemente auf und transformieren sie. Der Band fehlt vielleicht das Geschmeidige, vielleicht auch in den Einzelkomponenten der Wiedererkennungswert, aber in seiner Gesamtheit ist das Album wohl einzigartig. Man bekommt eine Menge Zeug verteilt auf zwei Tracks. Na ja, in Wahrheit sind es drei, zumindest in der Vinylversion: Der erste Track „Curse Of The Ninth“ ist nämlich viel zu lang für eine LP-Seite und setzt sich daher auf Seite 2 fort, teilt sie sich also mit „The Siege“. Der LP liegt ein Poster bei, ein Downloadcode oder eine CD indes nicht. Macht nix. Inzwischen hat die Band übrigens auf ihrer Bandcamp-Seite zwei neuere Veröffentlichungen aufgeführt. Produktiv sind sie! - KRAUT NICK MAGAZINE Listen to album here: Order LP or CD via [email protected] Spread the word dear friends! The band needs to be heard  Edited by TGArmy - November 24 2015 at 11:21 |
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: February 08 2016 at 22:45 |
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The band hits the road next week!
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TGArmy
Forum Groupie
Joined: December 01 2013 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
Posted: April 11 2016 at 13:41 |
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The band just released live bootleg from Budapest containing new 22-min long proggy epic. Check it out here:
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 30 2007 Location: Raeford, NC Status: Offline Points: 32473 |
Posted: June 23 2016 at 09:26 |
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The Grand Astoria released new album (heavy prog)
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