WORDLESS

INFRONT have sound of their own.They're talented and professional.Their music is emotional and filled with melodies.They play somewhere in between math-metal, post- rock, art-rock and fusion. Elements of EACH genre I named can be found in EVERY track of them. It all sounds very natural - I can hardly imagine them sitting on rehearsal with words like "OK, what odd signature we'll throw into this one?" Among their favourite bands some unpredictable names like WISHBONE ASH, IRON MAIDEN (duo guitars!) and QUEEN can be found - while musically they're closer to TOOL, INDUKTI (but less metallic), MOGWAI, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY (but more focused) and some other bands that move Progressive Rock nowadays. I must admit INFRONT must take honorable place among them - this is an exceptional and even unique stuff you'll definetely enjoy. Highlights are "From where the Wind blows" with AWESOME duo- guitar break, "Autumn Velvet" in almost ANEKDOTEN's vein and 12-minute long closing "Chinese Butterfly" - an oriental piece indeed, ranging from Post-Rocky meandering to amazing mellow ballad-like tune. Extremely recommended and can be easily purchased - check their site for details.

This a Russian four piece band with additional guest musicians on keyboards, flute, trumpet and trombone. Last week I had the pleasure to meet the drummer and guest keyboard player when they were in Amsterdam too because of a short holiday. I was pleased with the very passionate way the drummer 'KS ' told about his appreciation for Bill Bruford.

Well, listening to Infront their debut CD I am not surprised that he mentioned Bill Bruford because KS his drumming has obvious hints: powerful, inventive and frequent use of the hi-hats. Infront their sound is often dynamic and propulsive featuring a fluent rhythm-section and great duo-guitar work, from mellow twanging chords (888 and RUNNN) and sensitive runs (Chinese Butterfly) to fiery soli (like biting wah-wah pedal in 888) and heavy riffs (RUNNN). The way Infront slows down the music at some moments creates a lot of tension with the in general fiery and violent sound, I love their dynamics! The three guest musicians deliver a tasteful contribution like the trumpet/trombone in Autumn Velvet (a kind of mellow 'salsa-King Crimson') and sparkling flute in the alternating, quite dreamy epic composition Chinese Butterfly. This Russian band doesn't make very accessible prog, in my opinion their sound has echoes from other King Crimson inspired band like Shylock (second album Ile De Fièvre) from France, Chilean formation Eksimio and Swedish top band Anekdoten (without Mellotron) because of the fiery guitar, the propulsive rhythm-section and the violent climates. Infront their music is focussed on awesome interplay and creating dynamic atmospheres.

If you are up to adventurous prog and you don't have a problem with the minimal contribution of keyboards, this is a band to discover, thanks for your recommendation Prog-jester!

A pretty good debut album from this Russian outfit; and one pretty hard to categorize too.

Guitars are in the front, back and center on this production, that's an obvious place to start. At times highly complex and quirky guitar themes are played out constantly, from mellow passages exploring a single guitar motif to metal-tinged segments with drawn out hard chords; staccato, aggressive and distorted riff patterns, and quite a few variations in between those two extremes. Quite often we're served dual guitar layers - at times it even sounds like triple ones; harmonic or semi-harmonic motifs explored just as often as more dissonant affairs. There's extensive soloing going on too; but a characteristic trait of this band is that they keep those facets of the compositions atmospheric. Fast melodic guitar solo licks, drawn out notes or distorted screeching bursts; they're all firmply placed within the atmospheric realm with hardly any shredding in sight.

It's an adventurous creation this one, comparable to Robert Fripp's work in approach albeit not in sound or style - experimental, searching progressive rock incorporating many aspects from the world of hard rock and some from metal too boot. A good release that should appeal to quite a few instrumental prog aficionados.

"Wordless" is an ingenius title for an all-instrumental album isn't it. These four Russians have come up with a real gem here with their twin lead guitars, bass and drums. We have Oleg adding effects, keyboards and flute along with two other guests playing trumpet and trombone on one track. By the way I understand Oleg is now the fifth member of the band which I think was a great move.

We get a beat after a minute on "Invisibly Join" as relaxed guitar joins in then a full sound. Nice.This really sounds fantastic. Some brief angular guitar before 3 1/2 minutes then it settles before kicking back in after 4 minutes with a Post-Rock flavour.Too much ! "Corridor" opens with atmosphere as guitar, bass and drums come in around a minute. A full sound follows.This sounds incredible. More aggressive guitar after 4 minutes. "From Where The Wind Blows" features intricate sounds and the bass is prominant.The tempo picks up and check out the drumming. Only the wind is blowing after 6 1/2 minutes to end it. Cool.

"888" opens with guitar then it turns fuller quickly with guitar out front. "Autumn Velvet" is kind of jazzy with those guest horns. Guitar leads after 1 1/2 minutes then the horns return to lead before 4 minutes to end it. "Runnn" opens with some atmosphere then it kicks in hard at 1 1/2 minutes. Some great bass here. "Mensura Zoili" has a good heavy sound to it. Some angular guitar around 4 minutes. "Chinese Butterfly" opens with atmosphere galore. Bass before 3 minutes then the drums and intricate guitar join in. An Oriental flavour here. Electric guitar takes the lead around 5 minutes. Flute comes in when it settles. Back to the Oriental vibe 8 1/2 minutes in. Atmoshere like the intro is back 10 minutes in.

I like this album a lot, these guys play as a band and offer up some interesting pieces.