HOLLOW MOON

Vespero are Ivan Fedotov drums, percussion, сachon, wave drum, Arkady Fedotov bass, synth, noises, Alexander Kuzovlev guitars, mandoline, Alexey Klabukov keys, synths, Vitaly Borodin violin, accordion, piano, synth with Pavel Alekseev tenor saxophone. The sound they generate is nothing short of inspired mayhem with textures of space rock floating throughout. The time sigs are chaotic, the musicianship is innovative and every track differs from the next in style and substance. There are flavours of King Crimson, Hawkwind and The Ozric Tentacles combined.

I am not going to pull out any specific track on Hollow Moon as the instrumental album as a whole has a transfixing power that just flows from track to track as a composition. I love the spaciness of the atmosphere and the way that various instruments chime in and out of the wall of sound. There are some outstanding passages of music that are sublime.

There are lead breaks to savour with wah wah pedal and effects, occasional keyboards and weird spacey effects. there are haunting piano motifs and an odd percussion meter played with astonishing, engaging effect. The drumming on this album are played with an incredible ferocity, on another level from your average drummer.

Hollow Moon is dominated by lead guitars with gorgeous saxophone and the violin thrown in for good measure. There are quirky time changes that would keep any respectable metronome swinging wildly.

The overall album is a spaced out psychedelic journey of innovation and unusual soundscapes. It certainly grows on the listener as the more I heard it the more I was entranced by the mesmerising music. An outstanding Psych Prog album keeping the Space Rock lamp burning.