THE INVISIBLE LINE

Sunchild is the latest musical project from Antony Kalugin who has also released albums under the names Karfagen and Hoggwash. The Invisible Line is the second album under the Sunchild banner, the first being the rather ambitious double cd The Gnomon released in 2008. Kalugin comes from the Ukraine, his accent distinguishable in his vocals though he does sing in English.

Although Kalugin is the principle writer, he's aided by Will Mackie who has a hand in or writes most of the lyrics. Kalugin as well as being lead vocalist also plays keyboards and has brought in a host of talented Ukranian musicians and vocalists which gives the project a band feel. Wind instruments such as oboe, sax, flute and bassoon add an extra dimension to the sound.

The eleven varied compositions often venture into symphonic territory, often in a mellow vein though more powerful moments such as the title track, The Invisible Line part 1 are present. It appears again as part 2 to close the album but this time a much mellower ballad affair until picking up pace mid song, bearing no resemblance to part 1. There's a strong emphasis on melody and some fine instrumental sections. The best of these feature in Amalgama and Line In The Sand; at fourteen and a half minutes long having plenty of space for tastefully restrained rather than bombastic musical workouts but as already said, an emphasis on melody keeps the listener engaged.

Overall an excellent album and while there's little to set the pulse racing on a musical level, it's such a tastefully played and well crafted record with an emphasis on song writing I can strongly recommend it.

SUNCHILD is one of the three main musical ventures of Ukrainian composer and musician Antony Kalugin, the other two being Karfagen and Hoggwash, respectively. This project was set up by Kalugin and involves young, aspiring musicians from his homeland. The first album made by Sunchild, "The Gnomon", was issued in March 2008. Two more albums followed hot on the heels of that creation. "The Invisible Line" from 2009 is the first of those.

"The Invisible Line" is an album catering quite nicely to the tastes of those who have a passion for symphonic art rock with a distinct emphasis on mood and atmosphere. Organ, Mellotron and synthesizer nicely and easily combined with acoustic strings as well as those digitized from the sound of them, not too inclined towards quirky or challenging excursions but with pastoral and richly layered arrangements aplenty. Sporting vintage-inspired as well as slightly more modern neo sounding arrangements, it is a disc I surmise might have a key audience among those who enjoy the gentler part of 70's Genesis and Camel as well as neo-prog.

Artists like Antony Kalugin, Fabio Zuffanti or Neal Morse are born once in a decade, people involved in plenty of projects as leading figures, putting up consistently impressive music.Kalugin put Hoggwash and Karfagen a bit aside to focus on his Sunchild project in the 2008-09 period.The masterful ''The gnomon'' was then followed by ''The invisible line'', released on Caerllysi Music label and featuring some 15 guest singers and musicians with Kalugin handling multiple instruments.

While not that magnificent as the ultimate opus of ''The gnomon'', ''The invisible line'' is another work showcasing Kalugin's amazing capabilities as a composer.This is closer to the classic Symphonic Rock style as performed by SPOCK'S BEARD with some Neo Prog sensibilities, sounding overall more modern than the works of the Americans, but offering solid instrumental and vocal work both in long and short arrangements.The standard rock and keyboards instruments are often surrounded by surprising sax, oboe, trumpet, accordion and flute parts and for this reason Sunchild recall also Italian veterans HOSTSONATEN minus the ambiental and folky soundscapes.The material is great to say the least with evident GENESIS and CAMEL inspirations, lacking the true presence of vintage keyboards and being based on hard-edged guitars and powerful synthesizers, but the orchestrations are absolutely convincing, the melodies come as instant and memorable and grandiose parts are all over the place.Plus all vocals are sung in English with a set of amazing singers.I am excited to say that even if the music is highly symphonic and very energetic, the pinches from instruments like the sax, flute etc. are incredible adapted within the Classic Prog frames, without hurting the consistency of the album.No weak tracks in here, but there are a few standouts, like the title track, separated in two movements, with the emotional melodies, symphonic overtones and fantastic singing lines, absolutely awesome.

''The gnomon'' was simply a masterpiece, this one is also an excellent work on modern Symphonic Rock with nice variations, bombastic tunes and laid-back textures.Definitely among the year's highlights, do yourself a favor and grab this fine piece of art, especially if you love SPOCK'S BEARD, THE TANGENT, APOGEE, TRANSATLANTIC, HOSTSONATEN and the likes.