SPHERES ALIGNED

Lost World Band is a Crossover Prog band that was founded in Moscow, Russia in 1990 by 3 classically trained musicians, originally known simply as Lost World. Their first album was released in 2001. They have released 6 full length studio albums and 1 live album. Their 6th album was released in April of 2019 and is called "Spheres Aligned". The group's line up for this album consists of Andrey Didorenko on vocals, guitars, bass, violins and keyboards; Vassily Soloviev on flute; Yuliya Basis on keyboards; Evgeny Kuznetsov on bass; and Konstantin Shtiriltz on drums. The music on this album was composed and recorded between November 2017 and December 2018 in both New York City and Moscow. The album consists of 11 tracks which in total comes to about 50 minutes. The music consists of half of the tracks being instrumental songs and half with vocals.

"Aligned" begins on an upbeat track which consists of a violin leading the charge along with the full band with a fast and complex, but somewhat lilting rhythm. Right away, you know you are in for a great progressive production as the violin tears things up in this great introductory track. "Rockfall" begins with stately synths introducing another fast and catchy progressive track which is mostly led by rousing guitar and keyboard solos. "Dawn Day Dusk Night" starts off pensively with processed piano and keys and the first instance of vocals in a stylized harmonic wash of sound. The violin takes the lead again between the lyrical lines. As the lyrics become less repetitive, the piano plays dissonant chords, and after this, a complex instrumental section comes in with heavy guitars and more violin and keys. "Running in the Sun" features a more lyrical led track. The vocals have a slight leaning towards Geddy Lee in his later years, but a bit weaker. But the musicianship is so good on the album that you hardly notice, even in this faster track. The instruments generate enough excitement that make you want to keep hearing more.

"Symphonic" goes back to the complex instrumental sound of the band. Meters and moods change often here, creating an excellent progressive track where guitars, synths, and the flute take turns supporting and leading while the rhythm section takes everything through a somewhat complex track. It's quite a kaleidoscope of sound and texture. "Aise" is a short piano solo instrumental which is quite nice and rhapsodic. "Sail Away" has a atmospheric beginning with synths and piano bringing in vocals. There is a feeling of vulnerability in the voice in this softer setting, which mostly works, but exposes some weaknesses until the guitar comes in with a nice instrumental break. The flute comes in later to support the vocals in the last verse. "Crystalized" begins similar to a light folksy instrumental similar to that of a Jethro Tull instrumental, complete with flute and guitar.

"Lighter Than Air" begins with vocals right away and a lilting and pastoral feeling with smooth keys, acoustic guitar and flute. "Pressured" begins with a march style rhythm that suddenly darkens with heavy guitars which propel the track forward through some cool synth solos and some great progressive interruptions injected throughout. Great stuff! "I am the World" is the final track, and also the longest at almost 9 minutes. A slow electric guitar solo ushers in the vocals which has lyrics with sci-fi elements. The track remains pensive and soft and at the 3 minute mark, percussion comes in, remaining at a moderately slow tempo while a nice instrumental break carries things forward. Things suddenly get progressive and complex as everything works together to build different levels of intensity. After the violin churns up some excitement, a short section with vocals come in and then more intense guitar work pushes everything to the last refrain. At the end, you just want it to keep going, and that is an indication of a great album.

This is definitely an enjoyable album consisting of some great progressive tracks and even bringing in occasional folk elements to keep everything interesting. There are some nice slow and atmospheric passages, and also plenty of exciting and complex sections that will get your heart racing. The vocals could use some work, especially in the softer passages, but it doesn't ruin the overall sound of the album. There is a good amount of variety on the album, yet the overall feel is quite consistent. Even with most of the tracks being short, the quality of the music is not compromised and development of the tracks is well executed. This boils down to an excellent album that is worth checking out, it's not perfect, but it's definitely worth the time.