SEVENTH STORY

Ambitious album without precise accomplishment

It's the second studio album by uzbekistani jazz rock fusion band Fromuz - Seventh Story. With Seventh Story begins a new period for the band and I would call it transition. In my opinion it's a negative transition. The album contains vocals (made by guitarist Vitaly Popeloff) and much more jazz moments, than Overlook. It contains a lot of ambitious, dynamic and intensive parts, but despite vocals, I think it's a step backward for the band, because of the presence of monotonous moments and themes as awell as unpleasing vocals (they looks like the vocals by other slav - Mariusz Duda from Riverside), I would rate this album less than Overlook. Moreover, the album is not as catchy and balanced as the debut! Seventh Story is a transition for the band not only in terms of sound, but in terms of line-up changes. There are a few line-up changes, which are crucial for the album. Probably the musicians haven't good teamwork together, yet! And yet nice attempt for the band, deserving attention! 3+ stars!

A long and elaborate conceptual piece is what we're served by Uzbekistan's Fromuz on this 2010 effort. And disregarding the opening and ending pieces, which first and foremost are conceptual theatrical pieces that I personally think falls somewhat flat, it is a fine effort for those who enjoy mostly instrumental progressive rock of epic length and with many stylistic variations.

The first of the epics, Parallels, kicks of with a theme that should sound familiar to anyone who have come across Canadian band Rush and their instrumental tour de force YYZ, and while the track twists and turns in several other directions in it's 20 minute span this theme is the constant factor there, and is also repeated later on this disc. The following Desert Circle is initially a dreamier affair, soon entering jazz and fusion territories followed by a brief excursion into hair metal territories before ending as it started.

The next three efforts - the brief atmospheric piece Bell of the Earth and the following epics Taken and Influence Of Time - are truly masterful efforts. All of them different, and both epics going from one stylistic expression and mood to the next with splendid ease. Intriguing atmospheres and fascinating themes of a darker, almost prog metal tinged variety and lighter, jazz-tinged smooth passages are perfectly intertwined here alongside symphonic sequences and some select passages featuring quirkier, more challenging efforts as well.

Seventh Story comes across as the most accomplished production by this band so far, but the conceptual theatrical pieces used to tie it all together is a bit of a let-down in my opinion. Without them, the first and last track in particular, this disc would have been pretty close to being regarded as a masterpiece in my personal opinion.

Long second studio album of Uzbekistan-based band. There are some line- up changes, and some musical changes as well.

Being still mostly instrumental, some vocals appear in places. Musically it is still same instrumental rock with strong accent on technical side. Very slight Central Asian tunes are included, but deeply under the guitars rock skin.

With this album I have same problem with all this band's works: being very competent technically, their music are in fact endless demonstration of these technical abilities. You will hardly find something inside (something, what is music itself). Cold, emotionless, or even mechanic sound. It doesn't touch your soul.

If on earlier work there were some jazz fusion influences, and it gave some diversity in monotonous sound, there on this album sound is mostly clean of that. Calculated technical progressive rock.In places, where some jazzy guitar work is added, sound is flat and colourless. Even some world fusion elements can't inject life in very formal musicianship.

Vocals are controversial, and you will hardly remember even a small moment of all long album after you will finish listening.

Respecting musicians technical level and quite good recordings quality ,I can valuate this album as 2,5 . But hardly can recommend it to any listener.

Too long and too boring. Letter without message.

P.S. Nice front-cover and terrible inlay design!

It's finally time to sit down and write this review. Whee.

First thing, I have to note that I really love Overlook, their previous album, and find that to be one of the stronger all-instrumental albums this side of fusion. And while Seventh Story carries many great traits from that release, it also carries over (and amplifies on occasion) some of the trouble that Overlook had. Nevertheless, there is a lot of good music here, and some new twists to the Fromuz sound that really boost the quality of this release. There is quite a strain of Liquid Tension Experiment throughout this album, but for the most part Fromuz have developed their own sound.

The first and final tracks are quiet balladry of sorts, though much of both songs are ambiance and using spoken word to create a distorted, bizarre entrance into the music. And it works well the first time, though by the last song, after a full-and-then-some-length album, I find myself wishing they'd just get to the musical conclusion rather than build ambiance after an hour and a quarter. Nevertheless, the most interesting part of these two tracks are the addition of vocals. They appear in other tracks as well, and I find them very pleasant, refreshing even. The second track, Parallels, is long and meandering. There are many wonderful moments appearing in this piece, but it does not stand very well as a single song. At points the music is subtle, pushing forward calmly yet full of layers. When it is not full of layers, that is usually when the tempo is kicking in and the LTE-brand metal riffs are in full force.

Several minutes of heavily-accented English dialog and poetry lead us to Desert Circle. Desert Circle is at times the highlight of this new release and at others a perfect example of its issues. There are some really well-executed ideas in here. Some great performance. And some absolutely terrible transitions, which were a problem with Fromuz before and are clearly not fixed yet. Every song on this album (except Bell of the Earth) struggles with this somewhat, but Desert Circle is downright crippled by it several times. Despite this, however, this not a failed track at all. It doesn't make much of a unified song, but the brief section in the middle heavy on acoustic guitars and percussion almost makes up for all of that. And next, Bell of the Earth is a gentle orchestral reprise of the recurring theme off Overlook. There is a strong resemblance to Watermelon in Easter Hay or some other Zappa song, though I can't place which. Orchestral, beautiful, reminiscent of Zappa? That's a good combo in my book.

Taken, like Desert Circle, begins with dialog, though this time it's much more natural and interesting (though, I would have to say, this album would be far, far stronger if the snippets of conversation were in Uzbek or Russian rather than English). Unlike Desert Circle and Parallels, Taken is perhaps the only lengthy piece on the album that holds together as a unified piece. The guitar work is fantastic, and the mix on the creative heavy riffing in the center of the track is once more Fromuz gold. And over this high energy riffing and keyboard sounds, Fromuz put forth a fantastic array of trading solos, perhaps their best and most exciting solo moments to date. If you are finding yourself bored by this point, make sure to give Taken a full try, as it is the strongest track here (again, possibly excluding Bell of the Earth, which is a much more restrained piece). Influence of Time is quite similar to Parallels, though an interesting piece of prog metal. The early stages of the song feature a lot of funky horns and some very prominent and promising bass work. Though perhaps a little patchwork, it is nevertheless a solid final full song for Seventh Story.

All in all, a solid effort, but with a few downfalls. Get rid of the English, tie the songs together a bit better rather than having each of them be quite as meandering and nonunified, and perhaps include more vocals, and Fromuz could very well produce another five star album. This comes recommended, but I would propose you start with Overlook first.

Actually, I'm not sure why people hate this album. Because this band is some kind of miracle, pure Prog from barren Uzbekistan lands. However, this is not Jazz anymore, it's more like Symphonic Prog. Long album, very long with some parts that I call "static radio chatter" (studio talking, backstage fun) which is not interesting at all, even it gives this album unexpected twist.

For example this little (actually huge, 20 minutes toddler) Parallels is long, continuing, full of soloing and impression giving track has. This distinct Fromuz style (you will know it when melody suddenly is interrupted and this "change" comes).

This track is the main pinnacle, the best track if you wish. The rest is quite debatable, but certain atmospheric elements are there. Some jazzy jaming in Desert Circle

I wish I would be recommended to listen this album earlier, I was quite awed by a lot of flak this album got, but it turned out to be good shot for me.

If this record is something, it is uneven, unbalanced, full of ideas, some of them came through and some remained stuck on half-way there. But this album is interesting for me and most of material here is enjoyable.

4(+), from me. Opinion will vary here a lot I suppose.

From.uz's 2010 release, Seventh Story, is a long and difficult but ultimately rewarding album. It is nearly all instrumental, with the electic guitar clearly being the lead instrument. There are very few vocals (the most notable of which take place in the tracks "Parallels" and "Taken"). It also features many non-musical segments that seem like overheard snippets of conversation, all centering around poetry written by the characters (including, at the beginning of Desert Circle and in Perfect Love, a guy who is very difficult for me to understand). The album is seven tracks but they all transition into each other, often using the aforementioned conversation snippets as a tool to do so.

As mentioned, this album is long, and three of the songs surpass the fifteen minute mark. Of these tracks, I find Parallels to be the strongest - partially because of the vocals (they are sung with real convincing emotion that really appeals to me). Taken has a completely different approach to its vocals, using computer-distorted voices in a way that reminds me of a band that I'm sure Fromuz (and you, the reader) have not likely heard of - Swimfail, a band that was the brainchild of a friend of mine.

The strength of this album, to me, is that it never really gets boring. Although it is guitar lead for the most part, it has a lot of varying guitar sounds - including a spanish-sounding bit near the end of Desert Circle with some enthusiastic "Hey Hey!"s interspersed for good measure. Overall, this album has enough variety and interesting moments to keep one happy over many listens, and not bore them before it ends.

A strongly recommended band if you trust me.

First of all, this is not an easy album. It's lengthy and requires some attention, too, but please don't be misleaded by the psychedelic opener. "Perfect Place" starts with screams and noises like a Ron Geesin's track then after a couple of minutes it becomes an acoustic ballad reminding to Porcupine Tree.

Well, this is not what you'll find in the rest of the album. A 20 minutes piece "Parallels" starts over the fading notes of the previous track with a compulsive drumming with an unusual signature backed by a dark keyboard sound, then guitar and bass add a touch of metal, maybe. A very eclectic and maybe experimental opening. I think to King Crimson for the mood. Anyway this is an epic with several different moments. It turns into symphonic, it has more rock moments and has also a lot of jazz inside. Not easy to be classified in a single genre. The section around minute 11 which is followed by vocals is dark and slow but powerful at the same time, then it returns to where it started. it's a great track good for a large range of tastes.

The following track is opened by a dull dialog with keyboards in the background. Very floydian in the sense of DSOTM or The Wall, but it's just how it starts. After a bit more than one minute, when the voices quit and the guitar starts an impressive solo on a minor organ chord, this is not Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The guitar is powerful and bluesy at the same time. "Desert Circle" is another long track of about 14 minutes in length and respect to the previous epic is not dark. It's symphonic instead. The slow regular tempo makes it slide pleasantly while the guitar is sustained by some electronics. At minute 6 it drastically changes to acoustic blues-rock, so that when bass and drums enter the scene turning into jazz is quite easy. Good jazz/fusion very well played. As I have written in my previous reviews of this band, fusion is the genre in which they are excellent. In less than 10 minutes we moved from Pink Floyd to Tommy Flanagan...and it's not finished here. There's room for a drum's solo with spacey noises which lead to a Spanish guitar. Then back to the main theme. Then a light metal part with a guitar reminding to Eddie Van Halen with dark interludes on an easy melody. The good is that the passages between sections are well arranged, but giving an identity to this track is not an easy job.

A short track now. "Bell of the Earth" is opened by bells which play a very melodic "untuned" tune with piano and keyboards. Vangelis would surely like this track.

Another long track: the over 18 minutes of "Taken" open in a restaurant, probably. A man and a woman speak and laugh over a piano melody. When they finally quit speaking what remains is a good piano solo. Two minutes of neo-prog interrupted by a deadly bell. What comes after is nothing but progressive rock. Uptime, heavy, fast, with unusual progression of chords but without losing harmony. As it happens in the best jazz let's say. This is probably the reason why this band is struggling in finding fans. They maybe put too much in their composition. This is not a band thing usually, and is not bad also here, but you have to be open-minded enough to appreciate them all. The symphonic section around minutes 7 to 9 is excellent, then the piano is left alone again to reprise what is now clearly the main theme. The bells are now "harmonics", no longer deadly. When the piano stopos, surprise! An heavy metal section that reminds me the Tuatha De Danann in their less celtic moments with the addition of a Wakemanish keyboard. and we are only at 2/3 of the total time... We can also hear a guitar playing in 32th for a while and alternate with keyboard. It rocks! Melodic singing at minute 14. You can spot a good bass work behind. A mention to the distorted voice. It's the first time that I hear a voice distortion outside of Senmuth's discography, but I really prefer the use of it made by FromUz. In the coda there's room for another uptime moment.

An average long track (11 minutes) starts with water sounds and morse signals, but what comes later is pure jazz. Great fusion here. The kind of things that caused FromUz to be put into the JR/F section on PA. My favourite track in this album.Fusion can't be described. Just listen and enjoy. Of source also this track has changes, but it never goes too far from fusion, even in the most symphonic moments in the central part of the song when the guitar cries long notes.

Spacey sounds for the closer. "Perfect love" takes a while to start, then the melody that's the main theme of the whole album is represented in a "looped" form, like it was played backwards on a tape. I don't hear satanic messages, even if some strange voices in the background could make some legends start. They seem to be the same voices of the restaurant...then a phone like often in Pink Floyd or in Marillion's Chelsea Monday. The album closes as it started, as there was a concept behind.I didn't catch it. I didn't take too much care to the lyrics, but this coming and going of spare parts gives me the impression of a concept album. A gong and it's done.

A complex but highly enjoyable album which contains too much elements, maybe and this makes it not easy to be followed, but let it grow inside you and you won't be unsatisfied.

The size does not always matter.

This is the second album from this Uzbek supergroup. A band listed as Eclectic prog because there is no label that really fits the music Fromuz has come up with here.

Seventh Story is an album. An album that reminds me about some of my old "this is what I did last year" photo albums with all kinds of photos bungled together in a disorder with only "last year" as the only concept that binds the photo album together. Just like Seventh Story in fact.

What we find on Seventh Story is prog metal, electronica, folk rock, neo prog, fusion, symphonic prog, eclectic and rock. I cannot really find a concept here. Not to mention; any cohesion or even a tube of glue.

Although this album is extreme varied in music styles and is far too varied and long in my opinion, there are some great stuff here. I like Fromuz best when they goes on the fusion/jazz warpath. The neo prog stuff is a bit odd. The prog metal stuff is generic. The folk rock stuff is also great. The rest is generic too.

In short, and far shorter than this album, this album is excellent value for money when it comes to variations of music and it's lenght. They could had named this album for The Fromuz Omnibus for that matter. The overall quality is good though. Check out this album if you are into everything big and varied.

3 stars

This is a five piece band from Uzbekistan, between 2008 and 2013 FROM.UZ released 4 studio-albums and one live CD/DVD entitled Audio Diplomacy (2007). This review is about their second effort entitled Seventh Story from 2010, two years after their highly acclaimed debut album Overlook (2008).

On Seventh Story the band features two musicians who play on keyboards. The seven tracks can be divided into two sections. Three shorter ones that sound pretty atmospheric with acoustic guitar and vocals (like the opener Perfect Place and the final song Perfect Love) and wonderful classical orchestrations and Grand piano (like Bell Of The Earth). And four longer compositions that I would like to analyse piece by piece.

First the long Parallels (20 minutes) in which a lot of tension and dynamics (evoking a sound between Rush and King Crimson) featuring powerful electric guitar and spectacular synthesizer sounds.

Then the alternating Desert Circle (16 minutes): from soaring keyboards with howling guitar runs to a swinging rhythm with jazzy piano and acoustic guitar.

Next my highlight entitled Taken (18 minutes) with excellent work on keyboards (from tender piano to sensational synthesizer flights) and a heavy and blistering guitar solo, the climates shift from compelling bombastic to a tight rhythm with propulsive rock.

And finally the track Influence Of Time (close to 12 minutes) that again evokes Rush (to be more specific: YYZ) with strong shifting moods and great saxophone and wah-wah guitar.

I am delighted about my first musical encounter with Fromuz, an interesting band to discover, FROM UZbekistan.