QUARTUS ARTIFACTUS

FROMUZ is perhaps the best known progressive rock band operating out of Uzbekistan, a country once a part of the Soviet Union that now has a substantial history as an independent nation. Fromuz was formed back in 2005, and since their debut effort "Audio Diplomacy" they have four full-fledged albums to their name, of which "Quartus Artifactus" is the most recent and most massive, I might add, as this production contains two CDs and a DVD.

This fourth artifact from the Uzbekistan act Fromuz takes the band full circle to some extent, as this production is made with the same approach as most of their other releases are: a live recording supplemented with a DVD documenting the concert itself. One might even suspect them of doing the same as a band like the Canadian act Rush, who have used live albums to mark the end of each of their musical eras. Be that as it may be, for fans in particular the alternative, semi-acoustic arrangements used on this album will be the most important reason to purchase and explore this triple package. Most songs work fairly well explored in this context, and some are revitalized and arguably better than the original ones. Like the three albums previously released by this band, "Quartus Artifactus" is a high-quality release, and one easily recommended to existing fans and newcomers alike, the latter in particular if they would like to explore an eclectic, hard to define band, operating within a fusion/symphonic/folk framework on this occasion.