A GIANT'S LULLABY

It was a long time coming, this follow-up album (I must say I feared for the group's future at one point), but the wait was certainly worth it: the second Kvazar album gives you want you expect from them, a lush-sounding retro-prog, that can only please a proghead's lower instincts. The group has suffered a few personnel changes - most notably the old bassist and guitarist having left, but not replaced by full-time members and they still present on two tracks - but this has not affected their sound or songwriting skills. A load of guest musicians (including the previously-mentioned ex- members) buff-up the sound and bring some additional twist in the music.

This second album is full of Gregorian choirs-induced by sampling and mellotrons (dare I say that this album is a mellotrons orgy and should bring regular progheads to numerous orgasms ;-) but the palette of influences is also increased to jazz and folk, making it an all-around more successful album (artistically anyway) than the debut. It is safe to say that Kvazar has matured and now started to develop their own sound (everything is relative of course since the dreaded 80's, though), but by no means are they groundbreaking or even novel, but their retro-sounding prog is sure as hell pleasant. Songwriting-wise, they stay roughly on the same canvas, writing lenghty (max 10 min) - but never elongated - tracks interspaced with some short and often untitled short passage (although they are under-titled Black Hole). The second track Choir Of Life does stand out from the rest of the album with its rapid upbeat folky mood, and a female guest vocalist from the forth track onwards regular sax and Fender Rhodes shift the ambiances ever so slightly to a jazzier realm, but the group remain truthful to itself even with the slightly Arabic-sounding Desert Blues and the definitely jazzy Sometimes. The last couple of tracks are a definite return to the more symphonic feel of the start of the album and the debut.

Certainly different than their debut yet a very logical follow-up, Kvazar is bound to become more than just a retro-prog group and I have a hard time waiting for the next album - hopefully it will be quicker than the five years span between the first two.