RIO/AVANT-PROG

1. Dundrets Fröjder (10:43) - what an amazing piece of music to start the record with!! it just tells how fun of a ride you're going to have.. that section @7:10 until the end of the song blows my mind every time i listen to it, drumming is just out of this world i always tend to repeat that section multiple times before i go to the next song.. (11/10)

2. Oförutsedd F¢rlossning (3:10) - I honestly find the vocals pretty irritating for my ears (although i enjoy death metal growls but i just can't stand this) however the music is so good, i can totally forget about the vocals and enjoy the music on this song.. beautiful keyboard melodies, guitar work is also fine but it's really the drumming that stands out for me. (9/10)

3. Den återupplivade Låten (5:53) - love the main motif on this one.. the first half sounds darker (which is good) than everything else on the record.. but the second half is equally beautiful. love the moment when the main motif comes back in the second half with tremolo picking. (10/10)

4. Folkvisa I Morse (2:07) (8/10)

5. Syster System (2:27) (8/10)

6. Tärningen (3:33) God i love the drummer on this record!! (9/10)

7. Svackorpoängen (3:11) absolutely love the keyboards playing on this song. (9/10)

8. Minareten (8:21) my second favorite after the opening song.. has more psychedelic feel to it.. amazing guitar and drums performance. the ending baseline is very groovy i can't help but dance to it. (10/10) 9. Værelseds Tilbud (2:26) a beautiful closer with amazing keyboards performance. (9/10)

10. Minareten II (4:37) a very cool bonus track that further explores the very edgy baseline at the end of (8. Minareten).. absolutely love this [&*!#]!!! (11/10)

Definitely a masterpiece of progressive rock music that every prog lover will enjoy.

It is not a common thing for me to review an album from an Iranian artist or band, but when a label like Moonjune Recordscares to share music with no boundaries, music from all over the world, we can get closer to countries that might not be really known to us, which is why Moonjune plays a big role in world music nowadays, and we have to thank them for that.

This is why Quartet Diminished came to me, because to be honest, I did not know them until 2024 with the released of 'Deerand', the fourth studio album from this four-piece band from Iran. The album has also the participation of two guest monster musicians: Tony Levin and Markus Reuter, so be prepared for a great musical and cultural journey throughout four compositions. It kicks-off with the amazing and ambitious title-track, 'Deerand', a 25-minute epic that is divided in four parts, where we can be delighted by an exquisite mixture of jazz, avant-garde, classical music, and even a bit of rock. The first part is like an enigmatic entrance, like an introduction where we are getting to know them and there are some moments of uncertainty and insecurity, soft elements, subtle music, however, they are ready to break the ice. And when they do it we are initializing the second part of this epic track, the change is evident, faster rhythm, more musical elements, drums, tension and rock, some Crimsonian winks, prog rock nuances, a faster journey that will bring vertiginous emotions. The piano work is exquisite, hypnotizing, but strings and drums wonderfully complement each other with atmospheric nuances and avant-garde tunes here and there, with even some great guitar solos which bring more energy to the already extraordinary experience.

The third part of the epic starts with a guitar riff that is immediately joined by drums, bass and clarinet, in which, to my ears is a great example of avant-garde / RIO music; Rouzbeh Fadavi makes a great job with drumming style, odd-time-signatures, tons of figures, and also lots of emotions. The contrast comes when drums vanishes and Mazyar Younesi's piano takes over, creating a jazzy / classical episode. But a minute later, Soheil Peghambari on sax and, of course, Ehesan Sadigh on guitar join and all together begin to build up a new structure, a fresh multi- cultural and musical journey. In some moments the name of After Crying came to my mind. The last part of 'Deerand' is the quietest of them all, like after the storm comes the calm, so you can close your eyes, sit down, relax and enjoy the music, I bet you will feel satisfied.

'Tehran II' brings more fire with its 14 minutes in which we are wonderfully embraced by the quartet's charm. Atmospheric minutes, some soundscapes and bass clarinet, subtle guitar notes here and there, a dose of tranquility, however, there are somber episodes that may modify the mood, a couple of explosions where drama is added, and though the song is long, it flows so when you think it will take off, it is actually finishing.

'Mirrorside' creates a unison sound with strings and piano, while soundscapes are placed as background. While the seconds pass, it seems to be repetitive, however, the passages never sound the same, because new figures and elements are being played so each round has its own authenticity. It is progressing little by little, adding new nuances and emotions, making us float somehow.

And the album finishes with 'Allegro per il ré' which is an amazing track. Tense piano notes in a RIO vein, Chapman Sitck, bass clarinet, guitar, like After Crying meets King Crimson meets Univers Zero. There are no moments of silence, the quartet and guess musicians always are delivering delicious notes that are stuck with us, I mean, they are able to hypnotize us. After three minutes drums appear and the rhythm changes, becomes a bit more dramatic, faster, full of elements, enthralling. There are some changes in tempo and mood, but the exquisite music prevails during the whole track. Delicious.

A great album, better if you listen to it with headphones, guarantee of a great experience.

The key signatures and harmonies are almost always surprising and inovative. It's incredible how this amount of diversity on these topics can nonetheless be so fluid and capable of being absorbed by the listener without much effort. Distorted guitar, bass and drums are the main axis of the compositions. There are no ups and downs on the quality of the musicianship, making this a very cohesive and robust work. Another amazing feature is the ability to sustain a very firm intensity from the beggining to the end of the album.

However, it's not everything perfect: two elements stop me from giving a perfect rating. One, the arrangements are way below the diversity and quality of the harmonies. Two, there's plenty of piano, with excellent tunes, but this instrument is too much shadowed by the guitar and drums. I'd add a third critic, the bass playing, because it doesn't cacth up the high level of the other musicians; but, once again, they made a wise choice of letting the bass less proeminent on the songs, which is a good compensation for this less-strong-part.

This opus is recommended for those who appreciate Prog metal but is willing to hear something more audacious, and/or more complex, and/or more singular. Or for admirers of RIO/Avant-prog that wants to listen to something more heavier.

To decide for my assessment, on a scale of 0 to 10, I considered the following aspects: Technique - 9. Arrangements - 6. Compositions - 8,5. Artistic Sense - 9,5. Innovation - 10.

Final rating 4,3 on a five-star scale.

I find it difficult to believe that the only review on ProgArchives for their 2021 album 'La République Dominicale Du Zoo' is the one I wrote, but there again here we have a band who not only have the temerity to sing in French but refuse to compromise their style for anyone. I love how they describe their music, which is entirely accurate and certainly worth repeating, "One could characterize this music as minimalist rock à la Shellac, psychedelic, avant- garde, or Rock in Opposition, but the band rejects all these influences, embracing freedom and the need to respect no stylistic rules as their way of being, to create an instrumental ritual in which listeners are guided by falsely innocent or fragile bubbles of singing. One could still mention Fred Frith, Primus, King Crimson, Zappa, Etron Fou Leloublan, The Ex, and aggressive atmospheres reminiscent of The Birthday Party (Nick Cave). One could talk about soundscapes, dancing traces, Oulipo-inspired poetry, angry breaks, and changes of mood, with twisted mastery and the ability to make opposing rhythms dance."

"Twisted", now there is a good word, and probably the best way of describing this. They are off the wall and try to express what is in their heads and do not worry what is going on in the rest of the world. It is close to improvisational free jazz, yet there is a rehearsed structure, and one can imagine much of this being recorded live as a band as opposed to individually sat down attempting to follow a score. There are no rules, it is whatever they want to produce while not even looking at the rest of the music scene. There is a punk anger contained within as if they are blasting at us with the menace of Throbbing Gristle from more than 40 years ago. It is not music which is easy to listen to, it is not supposed to be, but due to its very nature it feels real and visceral, not plastic and created to be a clone of everything else in this increasingly artificial and soulless world which continues to stifle creativity and reward mediocrity.

This album is a musical ear wash for the soul and makes me feel alive just by having the opportunity to listen to it. Yet another great release from the French masters, the quartet is dead, long live the trio!

I have followed Ivan Rozmainsky and his musical outpourings for many years and his relationship with Serghei and Leonid has created something very special indeed. It is music which must be played on headphones and only when the listener has time to really pay close attention as this is music which is all over the place, meandering yet with direction, layered with simple complexity so one just sits there slowly giving up on trying to work out how to put into words what a wonderful album this is, and instead just enjoys it. This may not be a very long review in words, but it has taken me a very long time indeed to write it as I keep drifting into their world when I should be getting my thoughts down on paper.

There is something immensely compelling about this, something which fills my up and makes me feel enriched just for having heard it. This is not something one will ever hear on the radio, but for those who want their music to be somehow dated yet current, classical yet with modern tendencies, rock but with plenty of folk, then this is for you. I think it's one of the very best albums I have ever come across from Russia and I urge all likeminded listeners to seek this out.

That's out of the way. Only 15 people voted for it? Times have changed here. I last participated in 2017 with twice that number of people voting for the winner, and it was only open to collaborators back then, times have changed. I have to give this band a ton of credit for what they came up with here. No I don't like it, just like their previous two albums, but they went all out with the packaging etc. I just live in another dimension it seems when it comes to my world view versus theirs.

Again a very heavy lyric based album, with some extreme vocals and sounds contrasted with the more laid back stuff. You have to like Nils voice or your going to have trouble with this band, like myself. I must say that as an anti-social person I agree with Nils lyrics on "The Gift" when he says he hates the poetry of Google, Twitter and podcasts. And he hates the language of downloads, Myspace and Facebook. Then he says "I can't believe I put this garbage in a song". Go Nils! As usual it's a long one at over 66 minutes and with 13 tracks.

The negatives for me as far as the lyrics go are about evil, because I believe it's real. Like the evil smiling face on the cover I saw from my first look at it. It's from the line on the song "El Evil" where it says "...nothing from here will outshine the smiling face of evil". And those final words in the lyric sheet for the silly song "We Must Know More". In other words there's nothing new for these guys lyrically. If you've heard this band before then you know what to expect, which is why I'm kicking myself for actually buying this cd.

Again credit to the band for the long-winded liner notes talking about how this album was made, going through each song in detail. Very impressive, and for fans a real bonus. It's tempting just to quote the description given here by Carla for each song. RYM users have this latest album by SGM a step below their first three which are rated fairly evenly. And I agree. And that's with close to a 1,000 ratings on the latest album, and more ratings than that for the other three. Bye SMG!

That search led me to that '15- '17 period of his that contained some incredible music. And in my excitement I grabbed this one too called "Midsummer Moons" from 2017, only to find out it's simply two acoustic guitar players, and that's it. For the whole album. Now Gyan Riley and Julian Gage are gifted players or Zorn wouldn't have asked them to play, but I feel this is pretty one dimensional despite them changing things up at times.

This is just not my music to be honest. A beautiful cover art, and I would say the same about a lot of these melodies. The word "moon" is in nine of the ten song titles. An all instrumental album about the moon. This was one of those "oops" moments, but if your into classy, high end, all instrumental music, you need to hear this. Zorn is the composer and producer and I've seen this listed as chamber jazz and contemporary folk.

3 stars, but please read Neu!mann's insightful review.

This is the only release that this band has put out, and it was 2018. Close to 68 minutes of music over seven tracks. It comes in a colourful package that is surely to bring a smile to your face. Now for me to pick my three favourite albums involving these two bands I'd have to go with the debut of POIL UEDA as my favourite, then this one called "Bran Coucou", and lastly "Brossaklit" from NI. So yes this was a hit for me this past week. Loved the heaviness and complexity of this one, but also that they do mix it up with some space and jamming. Some nice contrasts for sure. And the bass work of both players are my favourite sounds.

The title track opens the album, and we get some spacey atmosphere to start, and this one will take it's time to warm up. That happens at 3 minutes where they are more than warm. Pedal to the metal with plenty of intensity. Relief after 4 minutes and we get vocals to follow. Multi-vocals at 7 minutes which sound cool. I find the final few minutes to be interesting to say the least. Check out the bass before a minute on the next tune "Pogne", so good! That tone! This will level out as it opened with fast paced outbursts. Some vocals after 4 1/2 minutes but honestly these last 3 minutes disappoint.

"Mimolle" opens with two bass players countering each other as drums and guitars kick in. A Post Rock vibe here, and also on a couple of later tracks which is surprising. I do like the intricate complexity that brings KC's "Discipline" to mind even if this is different. I'm not totally sold on the longest piece called "Sho Shin" but it's over 14 1/2 minutes long which is in itself impressive. They get pretty "out there" at times on this one. Vocals too of different styles. The final few minutes on this one are impressive. The second longest track is the closer at 12 minutes. It's almost sounding like blast beats once it starts to kick in half way through. A tough listen, this second half of the song.

Some Post Rock guitar on "Francois 1er" and again some great contrasts of sound here. This one is over 9 minutes and it's not until 4 minutes in that they hit that red button. My favourite track might be "Kerberos" at 6 minutes. In fact the two shortest tracks are my favourites including "Mimolle". Great start to this one and some interesting spacey sounds. Some breakouts with off-kilter guitar. It all stops 2 1/2 minutes in as we hear laugher. Does anyone remember laughter? Then bang! Here we go! Just an awesome song from start to finish.

It's hard not to be really impressed with what these two bands came up with here. I am not surprised in the least, in fact my expectations may have been too high, but man easily 4 stars for this bird.