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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Dusan Jevtovic

No Answer

Review by Gary Hill

The brand of instrumental fusion here is hard to pin down. At times it's freeform and very jazz oriented. At other points it leans toward King Crimson. Other things are more Rock In Opposition oriented. Sometimes various of those elements (and others) are combined. All in all, though, Dusan Jevtovic and his collaborators (Vasil Hadzimanov and Asaf Sirkis) have created a compelling disc with a wide range of sound.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017  Volume 5 at  garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2017.
Track by Track Review
Al Aire / Soko Bira

Piano starts this and works it outward with just some percussion behind it. Then a noisy guitar sound enters and threatens to take things in a different direction. Eventually this bursts into some seriously crazed fusion meets King Crimson-like prog jamming. That piano eventually ends it.

Frusci
This comes in tentatively and rises up very gradually. The blend of fusion and Crimson is still in place here. This is on the mellower side from the pounding, hard-edged stuff we got in that mode on the last number. As it gets more powered up and involved later it resembles a rather freeform fusion. This thing gets pretty trippy as it continues. There are some intriguing bits of keyboard work along with plenty of interesting guitar soloing. It gets a bit more rock based as it approaches the ending. There is a return to the opening section for the outro.
Yo Sin Mi
Coming in with percussion and waves of sound, after a time the cut shifts and piano rises upward. It works out to more of a jazzy fusion sound from that point. This is among the most traditional jazz stuff of the disc. It works through a number of shifts and changes as it makes its way along the musical path. It remains largely mellow and melodic but does feel rather freeform at times.
No Answer
Little waves of sound bring this into being. Mellow guitar rises up from there and starts to gradually build the piece forward. A while after the one minute mark it moves out into more of a full fusion arrangement as the piece pushes forward. It peaks and then piano takes over to start the next movement. That section has more rock sound, bringing that King Crimson turned fusion concept back. There is a drop back later to a piano driven movement. They bring it back out from there into more of a pure jazz sound.
A Ver
While this comes in tentatively and rather sedate, it is also ominous and mysterious. It grows into more of a standard freeform fusion after a time. At times this works more toward the rock end of the spectrum.
Lifetime

Now, this powers in with fierce, hard rocking sounds. It's part King's X and part King Crimson at the onset. That introduction gives way to a section that (while still very crunchy) is more pure fusion. The piece alternates between the two basic concepts as it works forward. This eventually gets loud and a bit noisy. A keyboard solo segment takes it into more traditional fusion territory.

Prayer
There is a Middle-Eastern musical element to this mellow and mysterious musical invocation. They work on variants on that musical theme as they go forward. This piece is okay, but it seems to go on a bit long for my tastes. Still, they do take it into some intriguing explorations as they work onward.
El Oro
Freeform fusion and King Crimson-like stuff merge on this number. There is a piano led movement later in the track that's more pure jazz. It eventually returns to the earlier movement for a while. Then the percussion takes over for a while. They return to the fusion stuff to end the piece.
The Place With a View
This comes in quite mellow and weird. Odd ambient effects hold the cut for the first forty or so seconds. Then some mellow melodic stuff enters with a drum beat in the backdrop. This grows organically from there. It builds to a point. Then it drops back and a new stripped back movement emerges on guitar. It feels like notes are being pulled on by one from the air. Eventually they build upon this with weird fusion that feels like chaos that's barely reigned. It starts to rock a bit harder as it grows. This gets loud and rocking as it continues to evolve.

 

 
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