THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY

Named after the 2007 Roz Vitalis album, keyboardist / percussionist Ivan Rozmainsky started the side project COMPASSIONIZER in 2020 and has wasted no time releasing four albums already ever since. Joined by bass clarinetist Leonid Perevalov from Fair Wind Pleases (where Rozmainsky also plays), Serghei Liubcenco who plays a multitude of instruments including guitars, bass, rumba, drums, door and other percussion as well as with clarinetist Andrey Stefinoff, this band has unleashed a series of interesting chamber prog albums that really found their own stylistic approach from the very beginning. THE FELLOWSHIP OF MYSTERY is the latest offering by this Russian quartet that crafts intricately designed compositions that delve into the complex world of avant-prog and delivery it all with a nice gentile airy touch of mostly acoustic instrumentation.

Adding some extra sounds to the mix are four guests who offer violin, trumpet, vocals and ukulele sounds which guarantees a very interesting musical journey through seven tracks that just miss the 50-minute playing time. According to the label's press release, "THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY" is a beautiful instrumental album with a progressive spirit, captivating melodies, enchanting sounds and mystery." And all of that would indeed be true but i would add that this chamber prog sounds a lot like music from the middle ages or even renaissance music with a zeitgeist of times of yore when castles were occupied by kings and festive events featured such musical performances of crafty chamber music. While not totally acoustic, the album comes off as mostly so and perhaps the mellowest and warmest style of chamber prog i've come across considering how dark and forbidding it can prove to be.

One of the reasons that THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY sounds so eerily different is that the predominant instrument on the album is the spinet, a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument. Likewise while many prog artists are inspired by popular classical artists such as Bach, Stravinsky or Chopin, COMPASSIONIZER elected to revive the influences of the rather unknown Orlando di Lasso who lived from 1532 - 1594 and was one of the leading composers of the late Renaissance and despite not being a household name in the modern age was extremely popular during his lifetime. He was also very prolific and wrote over 2000 works in many languages. The result of these influences and the instrumentation at hand gives THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY a rather light airy and breezy feel as it drifts through one musical motif after another like a feather gently blowing in the wind. The music can feel a bit alienating as it sounds like an entire different musical language than the most popular classical artists who are widely recognized in the modern era.

The album is really unlike anything else including previous COMPASSIONAIZER albums. While predominantly running on classical sounds of the distant past, the band finds ways to add moments of electric guitar and electronics with the most vibrant display on the closing sprawling title track that is just shy of a 22-minute playing time. Once the guitar riffs kick in it sounds like some of the most convolutedly complex Rock In Opposition with angular time signatures intersecting with unfamiliar musical scale patterns as well as various musical chords and techniques not very much utilized in the modern world. Overall this album comes off as strange and impenetrable in many ways but it's actually amazingly constructed if you can grasp the gist of it (it may take a few spins). Rozmainsky has always had a knack for taking avant-prog into strange new places with some of the early Roz Vitalis albums just as strange and weirdly constructed. Definitely one for the difficult music lovers. The melodies are very arcane and esoteric and much of the flow comes from the contrapuntal elements overlaying in distinctly strange ways. Interesting album to say the least.

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