THE DOOR TO A PARALLEL WORLD

Formed near the Russian capital of Moscow in Sergiyev Posad in 1997, ETERNAL WANDERERS led by the two sisters Elena Kanevskaya (vocals, keyboards, recorder) and Tatyana Kanevskaya (guitar, bass) has been a staple of melodic Russian neo-prog ever since and has released a series of albums that mix the classic sounds of neo-prog with various musical genres including alternative rock, psychedelic rock and electronic music. The band has been a Moscow favorite live act since its inception and has enthralled the greater prog world with its unique stylistic approach. Some could even say this band is like the Russian prog equivalent to the American band Heart!

The band's debut THE DOOR TO A PARALLEL WORLD was released in 2008 with its first lineup that also included long time member Dmitry Shtatnov (bass, backing vocals, theremin), Dmitry Drogunov (flute) and Dmitry Shiskin (violin). This was the only album to feature original drummer Sergey Alyamkin who left in the middle of the recording sessions and was replaced by drummer Sergey Nikonrov who has remained with the band ever since.This debut album features seven tracks that clock in at 53 minutes and features a rather unique mix of standard rock guitar instrumentation along with all those classic Steve Hackett inspired guitar sweeps that give neo-prog its trademark sound.

The music is quite eclectic in many ways as THE DOOR TO A PARALLEL WORLD straddles the word of mainstream rock mixed with the progressive infusion of neo-prog styled symphonic elements, intricate psychedelic keyboard touches, gorgeous ambient atmospheres, touches of folk music and highly emotive vocals with all the lyrics performed in English for a larger audience outside of the motherland. The album begins with a trippy keyboard sequence that opens "How Long I'd Been Facing The Dark" and introduces Elena Kanevskaya's voluptuous and provocative vocal style and she really does remind a bit of Ann Wilson of Heart. The music progresses throughout the album with an infusion of unique keyboard stylistic approaches ranging from the typical expected neo-prog airiness of the classic world of Arena, IQ and Pendragon to psychedelic excursions that give the entire album a rather art rock veneer.

The album's diversity is its strong point with variations in tempos, timbres, rhythms, musical motifs and emphasis on varying genres ranging from the neo-prog aspects to more psychedelically infused space rock moments. The track "Too Close To Heaven's" is the ballad of the album almost sounding like top 40 hit material but for the most part the music is more complex yet simultaneously existing in a more crossover rock sound such as the alternative rock guitar dominant "No Way Back" to the shortest track "Ride Without End." The longest track on board is the near 12-minute space prog fantasy themed "Visions Of The Lost World" which delivers all the goods with heavy guitar moments, trippy keyboard segments, Russian folk music and long excursions into extended psychedelic neo-prog motifs with cool twists and turns.

The album ends with a more traditional sounding song with "Revival" which nears the eight minute mark and once again mixes the choppy guitar stomps with psychedelic keyboard touches and extended neo-prog sequences. Kanevskaya's vocal performance on this one is the most tenderly delivered of the album and the use of electronic effects during lulling breaks is quite effective. The drumming style offers a unique roller coaster ride of varying techniques and the track features some of the coolest keyboard liberties on the entire album. Probably my favorite track on the album actually. Overall this is a very interesting and unique debut from ETERNAL WANDERERS who truly captured its own unique sound from the beginning. The album does sound a touch amateurish and the compositions don't feel like they have been fine tuned to their potential but the entire album is quite enjoyable with no down time. The only track that doesn't float my boat is the sappy "Close To Heavens." Not bad for the debut.

3.5 really but i'll round up because of the creative uniqueness