BLIND PARADE

Most of the older members of PA know that between us there are several people that besides reviewing and debating about progressive rock, also are musicians, and one of them is Igor Sidorenko alias prog-jester. Since he shared with us his Diary of the Missed One I felt interested in his music, and Ive been especially following each new Krobak effort: Full-length album, EP or split, now its the turn of his 2010 released entitled Blind Parade.

To be honest, Ive wanted to review it since at last two or three months ago, when Igor kindly enlightened me to it, but there was something that stopped me: I was not that enthusiastic, so I wanted to listen to it more and more, to see if my love for it increased, but that did not happen.

Blind Parade features three long compositions and a total time of 4' minutes. The first song is the title track and also the longest one. It starts softly with some far voices that will vanish seconds later; then some kind of funeral drums appear and mark the rhythm, while guitars are playing different tunes as both, back and foreground. The music is repetitive, which does not mean it is boring, not at all, actually I enjoy listening to the different figures and elements he produces with the guitars. Before minute five there is a change and the sound is more friendly and joyful.

Another change appears at minute eight where the previous mood fades out and a new guitar appears. I recognized it since the first listen, this new passage had been used as a part of Marching for the Freedom we have Lost, a track featured in the Gdeva split. This part is pretty good because of its gradual progress, I like the game that the different guitars play, while one sounds delicate and far, other appears strong and near.

The second track is Slow Train, to be honest, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the first seconds, was that Bjrk song called Ive seen it all, I dont know if Igor is aware of it, but it sounds too similar. Anyway, it is just for some seconds, because later some male voice appears (I ignore the language) and keeps talking for a minute, then some tense atmosphere is created, seems to be wind in a dark and lost place. Later, the sound of the train re-appers for a couple of seconds, opening the road to the guitars. Now with the guitars, a new structure is being built up with a constant rhythm that all of a sudden is broken at minute five, when the voice appears again.

That voice speaks again for a minute, until a delicate guitar starts, this is the kind of soft but emotional guitar sound that one can appreciate in several post rock bands. After minute eight the song takes a heavier way, however, it is stopped again by that voice, here I have a problem because I have no idea of what is he saying, actually I cannot even imagine it, as much as Ive tried, Ive failed. After this last appearance the song produces a sad and desolate atmosphere.

The last song of the album is Fading Flow. In this track I can hear some Talk Talk reminiscences, at least in the drums, and I know Igor like them, so they might have influenced him. Some minutes later, disarming strings appear and produce a slightly sad atmosphere, and then when keyboards appear you can imagine a new scene, a new place with different images and characters walking or flying. Then it suddenly slows down, seems that it will end, but no, it starts again

This is not the typical Krobak song, full of emotional guitars, this is a soft and peaceful composition whose textures might appeal to the listener, but you have to be patient, otherwise, you may get bored after some minutes. It happened to me, actually, and to be honest this is not a song that really caught my attention, despite Ive listened to it several times.

Well, this is a good album, the talent of this Ukrainian man is evident, the compositions are complex and of high quality, the problem here is that despite I tried, it never convinced me as much as I wished. Now I can say I enjoy much more his Diary of the Missed One album, and after all it is a matter of subjectivity. Anyway, I am proud of Igors works and I recommend you to listen to Krobak, you will have a good time for sure. My final grade will be three stars.

Enjoy it!