DISTURBANCE

VERSUS X is a symphonic prog band hailing from Frankfurt am Main, Germany and formed in 1991 and has released quite a few albums to date. DISTURBANCE is the second release and my first encounter but one that is pleasing and begs me to explore the band's output. The band plays a complex blend of classically oriented heavy rock with elements of jazz. With three sprawling tracks clocking in at just a few minutes short of an hour, you can tell you're getting a progressive music marathon with this one. This is yet another prog band to grace the Musea label.

What you can expect is some symphonic Genesis inspired types of melodies that tend to repeat and intertwine with other melodies and incorporating lots of dynamic passages and trade-offs with plenty of varied time signatures. The three tracks are quite complex stirring all kinds of classical piano runs, rock guitar parts and multi-hued atmospheres into the cauldron. The musicians are all top notch and the only aspect of this music that turns me off are the mediocre vocals of Arne Schäfer however the lyrics are intelligible and interesting.

This is truly an escapist's prog experience here. There is a very abstract feel to the whole thing as it can meander in different directions with the instrumental parts being the strongest feature here. There are long sprawling organ and piano runs, guitar eruptions and plenty of pastoral lulling segments. With the shortest of the three tracks being 16:47 and the longest being 22:30 this is truly an album for active listeners only that can patiently travel the snail's pace developments of the compositions. This album has very good compositional structure and i would love to like it more but the vocals are just too weak for my tastes. I am sold on checking out future releases though because this is another band filled with potential that displays itself on this release albeit unevenly. 3.5 rounded down