CZAR

A multitude of underground acts from the UK recorded their debut albums (in plenty of cases their only albums) at the turn of the 70's only to break-up soon after. After many decades, thanks to the undeniable power of the internet, we have learned to rediscover, recognize and appreciate many of these bands. Gracious, Cressida, Gnidrolog, Arcadium - this is just a microscopic fraction of such groups. Among them was Czar. Originally called Tuesday's Children, they played alongside Pink Floyd, King Crimson and The Moody Blues. Eventually, they recorded only one self-titled album before disappearing from the music scene.

Czar's sound is strongly shaped by many of their contemporaries (especially, the previously mentioned bands they supported). Heavily rooted in blues rock, the group uses heavy rhythms as canvas for building up more progressive material, in vein of Procol Harum or The Moody Blues. Almost of the songs sound very familiar, without falling into a category of rock cliches. The most essential ingredients to Czar's sound are a Mellotron, which is uniquely used in a heavy rock scenario, a distorted guitar, which has many solo parts throughout this work, clean, polyphonic harmony vocals and exceptionally heavy drumming.

"Tread Softly On My Dreams", the opening track is, in my book, the most representative of the band. I feel like the rest of the tracks, with an exception of "Cecilia" and "A Day In September", are rather dull, repetative and uninteresting. There are some enjoyable moments, of course, but it seems like not much emphasis has been put on the technical and compositional aspects. That's a shame, because Czar did have quite a distinct and interesting sound.

Overall, the only album that a British heavy prog act Czar left behind is an interesting effort and deserves more attention. However, I feel like this record a bit lacking in places. Who knows, maybe if Czar had more time and a bigger budget, these flaws wouldn't be so visible. What I know is, that this record will make a great addition to a collection of every heavy progressive rock or proto-prog fan. Three stars!