ECHOES FROM WITHIN DRAGON ISLAND

Every record of Antony Kalugin's bands has got his own peculiarities, altough always in the area of prog: everytime is a kind of surprise. So when I received the parcel I did not know what to expect. I had to wait until the evening to listen to it at home, but as soon as I saw the CD I realized it was something special for different reasons: the cover is wonderful as usual, but this time it was drawn down by the artist Konstantin Kanskiy (off-topic: if you like paintings take a look at his opus). On the front page it is stated "Symphonic art rock suite based on Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry". In the two booklets there is a complete list of the involved musicians: they are eighteen! The instruments are including also violin, flute, French horn, English horn?there were all the possible clues for a new masterpiece.

Finally I managed to listen to it and the first idea was confirmed. The record consists of three long suites ("Dragon Island" pt.1, pt.2, pt.3) and a short track called "My bed is a boat". Every suite is composed by different parts. As soon as I played the button "start" I felt the music was majestic, with a very epic mood. It describes in a very realistic way the story it is intended to tell; it is like to be immersed in a world apart. It does not make sense to speak of every single track, because the whole record is like a stream that overwhelms you, and I think this is the characteristic line of many prog concept masterpieces...

If I have to describe the music I would say that it is very folkish, and in a delicious way. Obviously there is a lot of intricacy, perfectly balanced by the great musicianship of everyone of the artist. All the folk instruments are masterfully driven by the wonderful Antony's keyboards patterns. I am also a big fan of Karfagen guitarist: I think he can choose the right tone for every situation with a great ability, alternating delicate sounds, Sabbath-esque riffs and whatever in the middle. All the record is so heterogeneous that it reminds me of some Italian prog rock opera from the '70s!

In conclusion I would suggest to buy the limited edition with a second CD. It includes eight songs and at least one gem called "Alight again".