ENDLESS WAY FROM YOU

This is the second album by THE WORM OUROBOROS, a highly enjoyable, instrumentally oriented band from Minsk, Belarus. I'm not familiar with their debut Of Things That Never Were (2013), so let's get straight to the music on this beautiful 74-minute album. The opening piece 'Cycles' -- which is also the longest at 14 min. -- will bring a happy smile to anyone who's fond of Canterbury-flavoured CAMEL and the joyously melodic style of early 70's CARAVAN. The warm soundscape quickly grows from acoustic guitar & flute centred delicate intro into a dynamic and yet relatively mellow ensemble playing full of happy melodies reminiscent of beloved albums such as In the Land of Grey and Pink or Mirage. This is not to say that the group would closely imitate either of the mentioned bands, but I believe that they are openly influenced by them, among several other prog bands of course, to have shaped their own individual identity. Especially the flute and organ have nice solistic moments. Towards the end the going gets a bit more intense, after which piano leads us back to the elegance akin to classical music and modern chamber jazz. A lovely album opener indeed, but the whole will have more variety and edge to offer.

Flute is occasionally well present also in the next track which has more muscle so to speak. I agree with a previous review that the guitar part may remind the listener of Robert Fripp and the Crimso classic 'Starless', again without tasting like imitation. 'Stone and Lydia' has a simple synth intro (is it perhaps some old Saga song I'm thinking of?) leading the way to eclectic instrumental prog with rhythmic complexity. The electric piano nicely underlines the retro feeling. Despite all its sudden turns the piece never loses its focus. The very classic organ sound (think of Soft Machine's Third, for example) is central on many moments in 'Quest of the Kingfisher'. The composition has a strong sense of a heroic adventure.

Before I end up trying to describe each piece... I'm really fond of the way this wonderful band manages to make music that is both complex and joyfully fresh; a rare balance between surpriseful eclectism and a warm, happy, melodic atmosphere not very difficult for any prog listener to dive into. The band is basically a trio of two multi-instrumentalists and a drummer; of the guest appearances worth mentioning are especially the vibraphone (5, 6) and xylophone (8) parts of Alexandra Gankova, and Vitaly Appow's bassoon (7, 8). The 8th track, 'The Whistler Shrill', is the richest one when it comes to the arrangements. Like ART ZOYD but more accessible, just like octopus-4 says in his review. The only other track to contain any vocals is 'Ascension' in which the falsetto voice operates somewhere between Kobaia and Canterbury (Robert Wyatt!). This excellently executed album deserves 4½ stars from me, and it's a very tough choice which direction I should round it up. I firmly believe this is something one doesn't easily get bored with on repeated listenings -- there's so much going on -- but maybe my enjoyment mostly stays on the level of "wow, that's great" instead of "oh my goodness, how I love this music!", hence I'm rounding it down. A strong recommendation!