7

Talented Ukranian musician and composer Antony Kalugin has been releasing a range of progressive-related music for almost twenty years now, each work revealing new styles and a honing and refining of his musical skills. His solo album `The Water' had a New Age/ambient sound, and AKKO (the Antony Kalugin Kinematic Orchestra) contained a Mike Oldfield influence, but his works under the Karfagen project name have frequently been in a proudly symphonic prog style. This leads us to their seventh release titled, well, `7', and in his own words, Antony describes the album as being "a journey into myths and legends, concerning the mighty luck and inexplicable power of the number 7"! Each Karfagen album sounds quite different to the previous one, and `7' is no exception, equally balancing retro and modern sounds with both instrumental and vocal pieces.

The 28-minute opener `Seven Gates' takes up over half the album, and it is grand, theatrical, briefly whimsical and romantic symphonic prog at its finest. Narration and ambient field recordings of nature weave in and out of this symphonic epic that is dramatic and full of purpose yet tastefully performed with restraint and class. Mike Oldfield, Focus, the Flower Kings and `Snow Goose'-era Camel come to kind in several spots, but only as soft influences and never merely imitated, and a range of guest players contribute flute, recorder, oboe, bayan and accordion to give the piece a rich and wordly evocative flavour. Max Velychko's guitars move between heroic electric bursts and thoughtful acoustic delicateness, Oleg Prokhorov's silky bass murmurs sweetly throughout and Kostya Sheplenko's drums effortlessly navigate the changing sounds. Antony himself delivers plenty of regal church organ, whirring Moog, dazzling Hammond, glistening electric piano, delicate Mellotron bristles and sprightly synth runs, a trademark of all Karfagen releases. Without exploring the CD booklet right away and glancing over the credits, listeners could almost be forgiven for assuming this was going to be another fully instrumental Karfagen release like the exquisite `Lost Symphony' and the previous album `Magician's Theater', but Antony's charmingly accented David Gilmour-like voice enters unexpectedly just after the 18-minute mark, and the punchy `Seven planets, seven wonders' chorus really soars on repeated listens.

The second half of the album turns to more vocal driven compact pieces with a strong emphasis on reflective personal lyrics, perhaps comparable to Phideaux, the Winter Tree and possibly even Mostly Autumn, as Antony is joined by female singer Olha Rostovska sharing lead and backing vocals. `Now and Ever' is a lightly gothic story-telling tune with ghostly piano and weeping guitar, and `Hopeless Dreamer' is an optimistic and upbeat soft-rocker with traces of Pink Floyd. `Alight Again' opens with softer ambient moments and slow-burn electric guitar, but the repeated `My heart is alight again' chorus has a big 80's Floyd/`Momentary Lapse of Reason' power, and the track is joyous and full of a love for life that makes for an uplifting album closer.

Excluding a bonus track re-edit that closes out the disc, it's nice to discover a 52 minute, almost vinyl length release from Karfagen (the CD itself actually is presented like an LP), so this avoids too much filler and bloat. While the epic that opens the disc is the strongest material here, it's refreshing to hear Kalugin and his musical friends deliver some simpler, more approachable and melodic music in the second half that still works in satisfying instrumental flair that displays their versatility. Housed in Igor Sokolskiy's gorgeous colourful artwork (now THAT deserves to be seen on a larger vinyl edition!), `7', the most unassuming and sweet-hearted Karfagen release to date, is another tasteful collection of lavish instrumentation and pleasing vocals from a talented group of musicians who never disappoint.

Four stars.