LIBERTAGE

Since their debut album, the instrumental group DISEN GAGE has evolved from a straight-guitar-influenced prog-rock outfit to an exciting and entertaining improvisational avant-prog band. This incarnation is still a duo-guitar quartet. Original members Konstantin Mochalov (guitar), Nikolai Syrtsev (bass), and Eugeny Kudryashov (drums) are joined by a fantastic performer Sergei Bagin who uses his guitar to add new unexpected colors to their music. Intricate textures, atonal improvising, tough rhythms and riffs, enfeeble soundscaping which could delude a listener by gentle touches of the absent keyboard, string or horn sections, cute but carefully warped sense of melody, remarkable individual skills and humorous visions - everything makes their second, Libertage shining throughout. The result is not a hash, but rather complex pieces with a sense of the bizarre and the misplaced. It is almost unbelievable that the whole album was spontaneously composed and improvised on the spot. This time around, the group makes a go of imagination, not concentrating on specific music themes but turning to something more in the vein of impressionist glare-art, gorgeous but sorry sight of the things. No guest appearances, no synthesizers, no overdubs! Alexei Fedorov's production is delicate and sleek without stripping the music of its authenticity. Those who got hooked on the pure instrumental avant-prog aesthetic will not be disappointed!