BY THE WATERS OF TOMORROW

Jump! Like a bunny!

Damn those Russians are taking over again! Not too long ago a band called The Gourishankar released one of the most original modern efforts of the noughties suggesting just how wrong all of those hellfire and brimstone-monkerers were, -those that every year speak about the death of music and innovation, but now with this album By The Waters Of Tomorrow, Vespero have truly created a spine-tingling psychedelic drenched masterpiece. For my money, this album is one of the most beautiful and unique psych albums inside a period of 25 years or so. It certainly is the best album of 2010 by a long way. That´s how much I like this!

This is the only album I´ve got of theirs, but in listening to the preceding ones on YouTube, I think I´ve wound up with a fair assessment of the band´s natural progression. Whereas the former 2 records were largely built on long jamming tracks with some atmospheric female singing, By The Waters Of Tomorrow sees Vespero streamlining their sound - treating their palette to a more concise way of fitting the instruments together. The tracks are shorter and more to the point, even if that is a bit of an overstatement, as the music hiding beneath the rather dull looking cover-art is anything but tunes you can safely incarcerate within an iron fold. No, the structure is still loose and warbling - true to their original sound, but the overall focus has been tightened and trimmed, and what´s left for the humble listener is a journey into a delirious musical wonderland, that no doubt would be suitable as the soundtrack of a slightly skewed Russian take on Lewis Carroll´s Alice in Wonderland.

The music is an astonishing blend of everything spanning from psych, fusion, Canterbury and post-rock to Krautrock, folk and avant guarde tendencies. The maniacal drummer Ivan Fedotov sounds like a successful mutation of Pierre Moerlen, Keith Moon and Chris Maitland all wrapped into one, and then you´re not entirely there either. He is frantic, pensive, off-kilter, mad as marbles, jazzy, heavy and laid back at the same time. Maybe it´s because I´m a drummer myself, but much of what solidifies Vespero´s unique and soulful sound, is the way he approaches his drum-kit. Just like many of the jazz greats like Miles, Hancock and Albert Aylor - he relies on using his "mistakes" as a bona fide musical foundation, on which the other instruments surrounding him will freely gain whatever inspiration and fire they need to carry out the next logical, or non-logical sonic endeavour. Ivan doesn´t sound like a drummer, who couldn´t hold a beat if his life depended on it, but rather like he wouldn´t stop challenging the beat, even IF his life depended on in it. This album benefits immensely from his approach, and you can hear his fire and passion leaping into the other members of the band like demonic possessions playing a hauntingly warped musical edition of You´re it!

Pink Floyd, Gong, Ozric Tentacles, Guru Guru, Exmagma, Porcupine Tree, Frank Zappa. These are all artists that you could list as possible inspiration for Vespero, but nevertheless it still doesn´t do them justice in any way. You could state that the ambiance and feel of those magical moments of Gilmour caressing his volume button with those weeping cascades of goose bump notes, largely constitute what half the guitars and synths are on about, - and it wouldn´t be far off to tell you the truth. On the other hand, the other half sounds like that which the Ozrics could never manage to do, and that was to add patience to their sound and let the notes breathe and ooze, offering a truce between the demons and angels. Vespero sounds highly original, even if one can spot the odd traces of yesteryear´s progressive troubadours.

For those of you who know Vespero´s first couple of albums: no the female vocals are all but gone, except for the second last track called Seagulls Sing, where Elena Belozyorova lends her beautiful opera like vocals at the very end - sounding like a human bird soaring high above the band. For an instrumental album this long, I find it highly intoxicating that this lone moment still manages to be this powerful and important to the album. Much like the other guest appearances here, which include spacey hippie flute sections played over bubbly electronics, and folk themed violin sprees connecting dots in between huge cataclysmic psychedelic fusion explosions, -everything has its place in these parts of the rabbit hole, and they work like a pinch of salt on your omelette. Pure spice.

Like my most beloved music, I also get huge bursts of mental images burning wildly behind my eyelids, whenever I put this album on, and just to give you guys a hint of what´s in store for those who paints their music from the inside, - the last track Aurora Borealis holds every promise of its give away name. Listening to it - I get shimmers of green, purple, blue and orange colourings rolling across the endless starry Scandinavian skies, as if the inhabitants of the clouds had started lighting up fireworks. It reminds me of my childhood, where I once was lucky enough to see the Northern lights, and just like Vespero´s heartfelt music - it gave me the chills in the most wonderful way conceivable.

If you like any of the mentioned bands here, you should already be standing in the forest looking for a hole in the ground, but if you´ve yet to spot the tracks of that little bouncy bunny, then do yourself a favour and go get this magnificent album, as it will lead you on your way to a world of music and bliss like no other.

Upon first listen to this album I didn't think it was as good as the three live albums I own by VESPERO: Foam, Liventure #19, and Liventure #21. But, I was wrong. Yes, I miss the wordless singing of Natalya Tujrina, otherwise this studio album is an amazing accomplishment of collaborative creativity.

1. Daphne (9/10) starts the album off with a fast paced jam in which the mix of synths are used very creatively and in which the drumming is mesmerizing, captivating.

2. Percious (8/10) has a very slow, spacey beginning but eventually picks up. Around 4:30 it feels like the drummer gets lost!? The music slows and thins at 4:50 with only pluck-echo-guitar and cymbol play for a while. At 6:30 it picks back up with some jazziness--and with some awesome 'trumpet'-sounding violin!

3. Amaryllis (8/10) starts slow but builds quickly until at 1:40 things really kick into high gear. Great searing guitar solo but, by 3:30, the band sounds a bit discombobulated. Perhaps going a bit too gang-busters. This is soon coorrected. 4:30 sees a shift to interweave of arpeggios by guitar, bass, and keyboards played against a very fast drum beat. At 6:30 there arises a discordant screaming guitar (reminds me of TODD RUNDGREN on 1973's "Todd"'s "In and Out the Chakras We Go")

4. Gao Zült (7/10) starts with drum brushes! Guitar, synths, violin join in in a PORCUPINE TREE way and play together for a minute and a half before bass and fuzz guitar take over against new frenetic drum patterns. The drummer is going so fast with such a syncopated line while the spacey background keyboard wash tricks you into hypnotic sleep--until 3:00 when 'harmonica/accordian' sound and countrified electric guitar. Then at 4:10 a real Mexican fiesta sound/beat takes over. A real hodge-podge of interesting time signatures. Ends with Gypsy-ish violin solo playing over same Mexican rhythm.

5. Tall Tree (10/10) begins with a slow, hypnotic violin. An unexpected key change at the 1:25 mark brings us into a "White Rabbit" chord progression. Here there is INCREDIBLE drumming! The guitar lead takes over at 3:38. At 5:23 there is a return to the ambience of the intro section and brief violin solo until 6:12 when an arpeggio weave paves the way for the return of the screaming electric guitar. Another key shift at 6:51 until at 7:11 the electric guitar bottoms out to fade.

6. Punto Fijo (8/10) starts at a frenetic pace with a kind of "Rasta-punk" feel/beat. The guitar takes the melody, but from behind-- from a floating place in the background! At 1:30 there is a long pause/interlude of synth noises, drones and echoed guitar 'Frippisms.' At 3:40 enters tympani and violin. From 4:50 wah-ed guitar strums join in until 6:00 when a GILMOUR-esque "slide" guitar solo takes over. Again: the drum playing is absolutely fascinating here! 7. Pavane Lacryme (9/10) is a pretty little song with treated guitars à la ROBIN GUTHRIE. Synths, violin solo and jazzy drums.

8. Seagulls Sing (When it Rains) (10/10) opens with an X-FIles-like modulated synth playing eerily over jazzy cymbol play and guitar and violin harmonies. The drumming--especially the cymbol play--is fascinating. A female voice joining in at about the 2:30 mark is a beautiful and welcome touch. Turns jazzy with nice 'flute' and, later, synth soli. That drummer!

9. Aurora Borealis (10/10) opens with a great, driving ELOY/"Blade Runner Main Title"-like keyboard bass-line around which all other instruments jam (violin, synths, awesome percussion). Again, the drums and percussion (and violin) are fascinating to follow. At 8:20 a distorted guitar enters, followed by the fadeout of all other instruments. Interesting way to end a song and album!

As I said above, it took repeated listens for this excellent album to grow into me. And boy has it! This is a masterpiece of creative, experimental jamming. Kudus to all involved. Thank you, drummer, for an amazing ride.

Well this does sound a little different from their previous album "Surpassing All Kings" as they've added violin, cello, flute and mellotron this time around. Mind you the mellotron isn't that outfront and according to Andy at Planet Mellotron it's sampled. The drumming is my favourite part of this record, the guy can flat out play.

"Daphne" kicks in quickly then the guitar starts to play over top as they seem to jam throughout this track. "Percious" has this spacey atmosphere to start as sounds echo, pulse and cry out. Some guitar and drums before 3 minutes as it builds. The tempo picks up too. Great sound here. It settles back around 5 minutes. "Amaryllis" opens with the drums sounding so good. The guitar comes in at 2 minutes lighting it up. Spacey synths replace the guitar then the guitar returns around 4 1/2 minutes. "Gao Zult" features drums and spacey sounds early on. It settles 4 minutes in then kicks back in quickly. Violin before 5 1/2 minutes.

"Tall Tree" has a relaxed and melodic soundscape. The guitar starts to light it up before 4 minutes then it settles back before 5 1/2 minutes. Cello joins in then it all kicks back in at 6 1/2 minutes. "Punto Fijo" is uptempo and led by guitar, spacey synths and drums. It settles before 2 minutes and it's very spacey here. The guitar starts to wind it out 6 minutes in followed by cello. "Pavani Lacryme" is strummed guitar and atmosphere until we get a beat 2 minutes in. The violin starts to cry out. "Seagulls Sing (When It Rains)" opens with whistling then drums come to the fore after 1 1/2 minutes with plenty of atmosphere. It's brighter before 3 1/2 minutes with flute. Seagulls can be heard after 6 minutes with waves to end it. Great track ! "Aurora Borealis" has this urgent sounding rhythm with the violin playing over top. Spacey winds join in as well.

Call me crazy but I like "Surpassing All Kings" better and I know i'm in the minority with those feelings. Still we get another winner from these Russians, in fact if you can get anything they've put out I wouldn't even hesitate.

A magnificent album of what I think of as "chamber space rock" from Russian collective Vespero, By the Waters of Tomorrow features a combination of krautrock-influenced electronics and post-rock drawing on a chamber orchestra style (check out dat cello!) which keeps the album lively and the listener guessing throughout. The oceanic theme, perhaps inspired by the band's home town's proximity to the Black Sea, reaches its peak on Seagulls Sing (When it Rains), a fabulously evocative bit of atmospheric rock which shows that the band have a command of delicate nuance to match their obvious technical chops. All very good stuff indeed.