LAND OF GREEN AND GOLD

What a fantastic way to start a new year - a new album by one of my favourite bands! With all that's happening in the world at the moment it is so refreshing to hear some beautiful music! Karfagen have released some amazing music the last few years and Land Of Green And Gold is no exception. Quite simply - progressive perfection!

Track 1 starts off with some very laid back guitar work accompanied by flute, and I can imagine myself relaxing in the bath with this music! Then track 2 sees the band come alive but with some interesting sound effects going on in the background. Birds chirping, then a bluesy solo by guitarist Alexandr Pavlov, then a wonderful dreamy synth melody by Antony Kalugin. Then the pace changes and now its time to start jigging in your seat as we are now treated to some robust drumming by Ivan Goritski. Now come the sounds I mentioned earlier with what sounds like an aeroplane passing overhead. Is that a marimba I hear? Or vibes maybe? Some saxes in there too.

Track 3 is pure jazz! Beautiful guitar by Alexandr, and some accordion by Sergii Kovalov, then suddenly Alexandr finds the volume knob and lets rip with solo that is full of soul. Then finishes on a quiet jazz note. Track 4 sees the return of classical guitar with accordion. Short but sweet!

Track 5 and now we are getting funky and my hips are swinging! Oh yes, now I'm gyrating as this riff has really got hold of me and now another great solo from Alexandr! Some smooth sax playing too by Yan Vedaman. Now some more synth magic from the wizard Antony! Brilliant!

Track 6 has another classical guitar piece played alone and is just beautiful. Track 7 is more jazz with vocals by Antony, with the pace picking up momentum. Great track!! Track 8 has Max Velychko on guitar with Antony using a vocoder and we are going up tempo with this track. Some wah-wah on the guitar as well!

Track 9 is chill out time with subtle bass playing by Konstantin Ionenko. Then comes 2 bonus tracks: Land Of Jazz !&2 I imagine being in a cocktail bar listening to this piece. Bit heavy on the sax but doesn't overdo it. Then Max jumps in with another fine guitar solo. Then we're treated to some very jazzy keys! Final track is a very short piece on piano and sax.

So my personal opinion of this album is - Amazing piece of the best Prog Rock I've heard for a long time! I thoroughly recommend this CD to have in your collection and now we must wait for world events to improve so we can get to see this awesome band play live on tour!! Great album Karfagen!!