KABYOKH

Despite overall having enjoyed what Shalash band had put out with their 2018 self-titled album, with the way it fused elements of progressive electronic in with its more simplistic, melodic instrumental prog sound, I still did find it to be appealing more in the sense of it being an intriguing blueprint that could lead to greater results in the future if the potential had been fulfilled. Glad to say that even though this ends up going in a pretty different direction to what I expected, it nonetheless sounds like a really engaging evolution of what was done well with the band's debut, being able to bring a set of more varied, complex compositions to the table while still undoubtedly leaning into their more immediately ear-grabbing, melodic edge that gave the debut a lot of its flavour. The big notable difference this time around is that rather than being so deeply invested in electronics and synths as the accompanying aesthetic, there's a distinct jazz element to a lot of this, something which is immediately introduced in the opening track, which a variety of brass instrumentation as its central driving force. These solos and interweaving melodies are backed nicely by the percussion giving a strong sense of uplifting energy to the whole song, which is something that quickly is established to be a vital theme to the album as a whole, this bright, hopeful sound that persists no matter what's going on.

I also appreciate the added emphasis on this atmosphere through the playful attitude that the band approaches a lot of these songs with. This doesn't just surface with the frequent switch ups or the way that the band always sounds like they're having the time of their life with the way they're playing a bit loosely while maintaining a tight grip over the direction of each song, but also with stuff like the brief deviation into a rock n roll groove on We See Them. Moments like this often come a bit out of nowhere while maintaining enough cohesion to contribute to the album's feel on the whole as well, helping to further contribute to that carefree, uplifting sound that is perpetuated. With this said, I don't fully adore this either, though I know that this is more of a personal taste thing as opposed to anything I can specifically pick out that's wrong with this album. I think that a couple more moments in the vein of Kalinka where the band would go all out with a more intense sound in places would do wonders for this to further break up the sound, or at the very least more sparingly choosing to implement everything at once to further differentiate one song from the next, but for what this is going for, I still enjoy it and think that it's a neat way to further refine an already promising set of concepts into something more full formed. Looking rather forward to seeing what happens next with Shalash band, because this was a pleasant surprise.

Here we have the second album from Russian duo Shalash Band who comprise Dmitry Karavaev (keyboards, wind controller) and Maxim Smirnov (drums and percussion). I was quite a fan of their 2018 debut, 'Shalash', so I was intrigued to see what this would be like, and I am very pleased indeed to report that it is a logical progression from what they were doing before, yet they have moved on and, in many ways, this is quite different. They have been working together for more than 20 years although they only formed this outfit in 2016, and there is no doubt they have a very solid understanding of how the other works. The use of a wind controller on this album allows Dmitry to provide plenty of synths which sound like brass or woodwind instruments, which often gives the music a jazzlike tendency, while never really moving into fusion.

As before, here is a prog band with a sense of humour and there are far too few of them around, and they see nothing wrong with suddenly moving in a totally inappropriate direction such as on "We See Them" which suddenly has the guys rock and rolling around the joint. There are no rules, or if they are recognised, they are there to be broken. It is certainly a very interesting and also different approach to many bands from Russia, who often follow classical, folk or avant-garde norms, whereas here we have a duo who are incredibly melodic yet see no reason to sit within any given music boundaries and instead keep switching up. Both Emerson and Wakeman, especially the latter who has always appeared to have more fun with his music, are obvious influences on Dmitry while Palmer is the very obvious influence on Maxim who is doing far more than just keeping time and is very much an equal partner in this relationship.

I have been fortunate enough to hear a great deal of Russian progressive rock music over the years and yet again Shalash Band demonstrate it is possible to have fun and produce prog which is totally accessible yet still driving forward. One never knows the path they are going to take but know it is going to be a fun ride wherever they lead.