LIVE AT SAINT PETER PROG FEST #5

I received an email telling me that this album had been made available through Bandcamp, but what intrigued me was the line "Like any Roz Vitalis stuff, the style is the "Unclassifiable Branch of Prog Rock", and music is about The Ineffable and The Unfathomable, in particular, about human aspiration for The Unapproachable Light." I mean, with a comment like that how on earth can you go wrong? I only have one of their previous albums, 2012's 'Patience of Hope', but I gave that 4 *'s, so I was looking forward to this, and I wasn't disappointed. Just eight songs, and a smidgin under 40 minutes in length, here we have instrumental progressive rock that has much in common with orchestral sounds of Karda Estra as well as bringing in elements of Gryphon, Jethro Tull, and a little pronk here and there. Five of the songs were recorded on one night, and three the next with a line-up comprising band leader Ivan Rozmainsky (keyboards), Vladimir Efimov (electric guitar), Vladimir 'Energoslon' Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (electric guitar) (although the band doesn't sound nearly as heavy as one might expect from two guitarists, Vladislav Korotkikh (flute and low whistle), Ruslan Kirillov (bass guitar), Philip 'Phill' Semenov (drums and percussion) and Yury Khomonenko (percussion on the first five songs).

This is complex music, highly arranged and layered, with just no room for a singer as the different musicians take their turn at lead or combine together to provide the perfect support. At times laid back, and at others very much in your face with some power chords, this is modern progressive classical music that works incredibly well with a fresh and inviting sound. I find that this is an album that I can become immersed in, and certainly doesn't sound like a live recording as there is so much structure within the sound. Ivan provides a lot of piano on this album, and the clarity of that instrument provides a great deal of cut through against the picked guitar and the dirty bass, while the percussion also plays a huge part.

All in all this is an exciting invigorating album that is over far too quickly, and somehow doesn't feel over-engineered or over-played, with everyone understating their part and that this is a group of musicians combining together as opposed to all having egos that need to be fed. Go to the website at www.rozvitalis.bandcamp.com and support them by downloading this for whatever value you wish to place on it.