WIZARD'S EYES

Prog music is alive and kicking in the whole globe, there are countless musicians whose undeniable talent is looking for new listeners, aiming to be discovered. Inside the Sound provides a very solid album in which Max Velychko takes the leadership helped by some other great musicians, so they can create a pretty cool instrumental album that prog rock and metal fans cannot miss. Wizard's Eyes is a journey through several atmospheres, nuances and passages, so it is impossible to feel bored here, in fact, you will be hit by every of its songs.

It opens with 'Intro: A Secret Journey', a blast of prog-metal-jazz at its finest; the keyboards make smooth nuances while guitar and bass let us know they are very skilled musicians. With 'Dreaming Deja Vue' I learned that the band would not offer plain melodies, due to its richness of sounds and styles. I am saying this because on this track there is even a kind of disco passage in which I wanted to dance; then, the metal orientation and those jazzy notes are back and remain evident.

'Fantasia' starts softly with delicate piano, later, the other instruments join and together build a new structure that takes us to even some spacey lands. Here I llike a lot the work of drums and bass. 'Friends' has a softer sound overall; I wouldn't say this is a metal piece, though it does have its textures. Actually, this reminds me a bit of some Steve Vai's moments. I like how the tracks are very different from one another. 'Empire V' is another track that could be danceable, its rhythm has some kind of Latin touches due to the use of percussion, while guitars present different solos and produce that heavy energy that comes like an injection.

What a musical journey we're experiencing here, so 'Haribol' has even the addition of a sitar, so you can imagine how nice it sounds athough its participation is brief. In this track there are also some chants, so the feeling is peaceful and deep. Great track and once again, very different and unique. Of course, the sound of the guitar still kicks asses here and in every track. This is one of my favorite songs, by the way. 'Horizon' has an emotional feeling, after a minute and a half it becomes softer, like a ballad, but then the guitar share heartfelt solos.

The metal feeling returns with 'Wizard's Eyes' in which some 80s and 90s prog metal bands come to my mind. It also has a jazzy feeling but it is not that strong, however, I think this title track might be the favorite of prog metal lovers. 'To The Sky' is the longest composition here but it passes so quickly, the song is very dynamic and it naturally flows. As you can imagine, there are several passages here led by guitars, but the atmosphere created by keyboards, bass and drums are incredible so I can truly enjoy this track. Then the journey is almost over, so 'Outro' appears and gives us a minute of tranquility, in which the music vanishes and the journey ends.

However, there is a nice bonus track entitled 'The Cold Spring', which is not the best of the album, but it is an enjoyable and relaxing piece. Thanks to Andrew Nazarenko for introducing me to this band. Of course, I would recomment this record to any prog lover who aims to discover new instrumental music.

Enjoy it!

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