Posted in Whathaveyou on May 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
As Kyiv’s Stoned Jesus unveil the first audio from their new album to see release hopefully soon as their debut on Season of Mist, one can’t help especially thinking of the fragility of porcelain itself but be reminded of the fact that the trio should’ve been on an extensive European tour this Spring if not for the ongoing brutalization of their home nation at the hands of Russian forces. Here in the US, the propaganda is pervasive and on the Ukrainian side — doesn’t take much for America to go anti-Russia, even though America pretty much pulls all the same bullshit, just on Black and Brown people — but even considering that it’s hard not to consider the lost homes and lost lives as a crime against humanity. Warcrimes. Think there will be any tangible consequences? Were there from the US’ war in Afghanistan or Iraq? For the Americans, I mean.
If you’d say “keep politics out of music”: All things are political. Grow up.
This song rules, and Igor is right when he calls out Porcupine Tree — can hear some In Absentia in the atmosphere — for “Porcelain,” and the percussive bent that underscores the driving riff could be Swans drawn. To me it sounds more like Stoned Jesus acknowledging their prog leanings of recent years while reengaging with the riffier methods of their early work. Finding a balance, maybe. Mountain climbing in their own way.
Ukrainian sludge rock trio STONED JESUS is now releasing a brand new song, “Porcelain!” The song and visualizer, which was created by the band, can be found at THIS LOCATION.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Igor Sydorenko comments: “‘Porcelain’ was one of the last songs I brought to my bandmates for the upcoming album, and they loved it instantly! In fact, we all loved this track so much we decided we’d play it live even before the album’s out, so now it makes all the sense releasing it as a single. People told me it sounds like 2000s PORCUPINE TREE covering 2010s SWANS but to me it’s just another amazing chapter in the STONED JESUS songbook. Hope you’ll enjoy it too!”
The song is taken from the band’s new upcoming album, for which the details will be revealed at a later date. Stay tuned!
“Porcelain” can be pre-saved across streaming platforms HERE: https://orcd.co/stonedjesus-porcelain
Line-up: Lead-Vocals and Guitar: Igor Sydorenko Bass and backing vocals: Sergii Sliusar Drums and backing vocals: Dmytro Zinchenko
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 26th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Ukrainian progressive black metallers White Ward announce the June release of their third album, False Light, through Debemur Morti Productions. The record is the follow-up to 2019’s righteous Love Exchange Failure (listed here), and the 13-minute opener and first single “Leviathan” has more scope than most bands’ careers. And no, I’m not just saying that because there’s sax and clean singing.
At what is no doubt the beginning of a longer journey, the Odessa five-piece pair squibblies, screams and angular turns with atmospherics more in line with post-metal than charred rippers. Then they have charred rippers too. It is extreme in its purpose but no less driven toward individualism than ferocity. I haven’t heard the full thing yet, but if the rest of the record follows suit — or maybe better, if it doesn’t — it will be a noteworthy realization of who they are as a group. In any case, heads up.
We are excited to announce our new album called “False Light” which will be released on June 17!
This full-length record is our most important release at this point. It took more than two years to complete this solid piece. And despite everything that is happening now in our country and beyond, we decided to share it with the world. We believe that music helps people in difficult times. We know how powerful its healing abilities are. That’s why we can wait no longer. “False Light” will be released via Debemur Morti Productions on various formats, including CD, Vinyl, Tape, and Digital.
You can already listen to the first single named “Leviathan” on Youtube and Bandcamp!
You can find it here: https://linktr.ee/whiteward
The album is already available for preorders! Bandcamp: https://whiteward.bandcamp.com/ EU Webstore: bit.ly/whitewardEU US Webstore: bit.ly/whitewardUS
The ever-inventive Ukrainian Black Metal band WHITE WARD unleash their defining third full-length “False Light”, a grand work of exploratory depth and a remarkable expansion upon all that made 2019’s acclaimed “Love Exchange Failure” such a triumph.
Always surprising and never less than captivating, from a base of rhythmically creative, furiously melodic Black and Death Metal the band shape-shift through a vivid suite of songs-as-journeys: seamlessly utilising hues of brass-led darkjazz and stately post-rock, foregrounding the evocative contributions of guesting clean vocalists in passages redolent of gothic Americana/post-punk and integrating virtuosic guitar leads, textural electronics and atmospheric sample-work.
Heavily conceptual and rich with meaning, the 8 dystopian tracks use overarching inspiration from “Intermezzo”, a 1908 impressionistic novel by the Ukrainian author Mykhailo Kotsubinsky – in addition to works by Beat-writer Jack Kerouac and psychoanalyst Carl Jung – to explore government-sanctioned murders, imminent environmental catastrophes, police brutality, domestic abuse, the psychic emptiness of cities, falsity of modern mainstream culture and ill-effects of overconsumption.
“False Light” is a multi-layered success story – perfectly balancing tension and traction, restraint and resurgence, fatalism and focus into an indispensable record from a stunning band at the top of their game.
The Space is the third full-length from Lviv, Ukraine’s Somali Yacht Club, as well as their first offering through Season of Mist. It arrives following 2018’s The Sea (review here) and 2014’s The Sun (discussed here) and is accordingly encompassing to suit its title. More over, it is the trio’s first long-player to arrive following their 10th anniversary in 2020, and it lands even as their home country and hometown are under attack by Russian forces in an atrocity-laced war of aggression. The band — guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist Ihor, bassist Artur and drummer Oleksa — are elsewhere and safe, but it is difficult to separate the six-song/45-minute procession from the context in which it arrives, though of course it was completed before the fighting began (unless you count the years of conflict in Crimea, in which case it goes back to the first record and before). Although, if anything were going to aid in that forgetting, it might be actually listening to the album in its entirety. As each Somali Yacht Club release has stepped forward from the last, from the warmer heavy psych of The Sun to the melancholic roll of The Sea, so too does The Space clearly state its evolution from where the band were those eventful four years ago.
Alternating between shorter and longer pieces across opener “Silver” (5:17) and the subsequent “Pulsar” (9:06), “Obscurum” (5:06) and “Echo of Direction” (9:46), and “Gold” (3:33) and closer “Momentum” (12:30), The Space is able to create a sense of movement despite a resoundingly methodical delivery, aspects of heavy post-rock in and around “Obscurum” meeting with the most complex melodies Somali Yacht Club have yet harnessed throughout, even “Gold” — which I feared would be an interlude ahead of the finale — boasting an attention to its arrangement and depth that speaks to the care the band put into their craft on the whole. The Sea was also six songs set in pairs, but the manner in which it happens here is more dynamic, and once “Silver” draws the audience into the universe Somali Yacht Club are constructing, that forward push — gentle at times, slow at times, more of a shove others — does not abate.
In this way, The Space is a monument to the richness in Somali Yacht Club‘s sound as it is today and to the artistic growth that’s led them to this point. It nods confidently at Neurosis, building off the rhythm of that band’s 2001 track “Falling Unknown” in the midsection break of “Momentum” and having its own “Stones From the Sky”-moment in “Echo of Direction,” but takes this influence and scores of others and incorporates it into an expressive sonic palette that is nothing if not Somali Yacht Club‘s own. Psychedelic and otherworldly in its purpose — it’s not called The Space because it’s so grounded — the album’s underlying structures are nonetheless firm, the fluidity that emerges in “Obscurum” as it moves into its post-midpoint wash of melody kept together not even just by the drums, but the unity of intent on the part of the whole band and the sense that, yes, they have a plan they’re playing out and that the thing to do is let them guide you through it.
“Silver” touches on pop melodicism in its crescendo, and conveys the breadth with which the rest of what follows will unfold, “Pulsar” beginning with a duly pulsing progression of bass, guitar and effects swirl over the steady drums, cascading between the serene verses and its harmonized chorus, growing peaceful and declarative in kind as it pushes through a build toward its last apex, the keyboard overtop adding to both melody and drama and assuring that the song holds its resonance even as it hits its final crashes into the sunnier beginning of “Obscurum.” This flow continues all throughout The Space — which would seem to have its vinyl side break between “Obscurum” and “Echo of Direction,” though it’s clearly built with more than one format in mind — and the trio are duly graceful as “Obscurum” surprises with a bit of solo scorch later on, feeling perhaps all the more prominent in the mix for the softer notes just before.
The drums begin “Echo of Direction” and set in motion a hypnotic heavy psych-style jam until the aforementioned Neuro-chug is established, carrying into a quieter verse, gorgeous in its layering and open feel. They tease a volume trade first and then bring back the rumble at about five minutes in before working their way back into ‘the riff,’ then execute the quicker back and forth they had hinted toward earlier, once again showcasing a structural awareness that speaks to their having a big-picture view even as they offer their audience the most breadth they’ve ever had. “Echo of Direction” is encompassing in a way that feels purposeful at the outset of the second half of the tracklist — start of side B by any other name — and that correspondingly means “Gold” is exceptionally well placed between it and the closer, the shorter and more straight-ahead motion of the penultimate cut striking just the same for its floating flourish of guitar and mellow vocals, weighted but flying like some kind of metallic airship.
“Gold” slows down as it wraps, letting the sample and more immediate start of “Momentum” convey urgency without feeling overblown. Those expecting a massive payoff in the ending of The Space will likely be satisfied by the peak in “Momentum” that lands just before the song wraps up, but like the album as a whole, it’s more about the journey to get there and the discoveries made along the way; the long, beautiful and exploratory stretch in the midsection just as engrossing as the inevitably made turn toward more outwardly heavy crunch, a last demonstration of the mastery Somali Yacht Club have over their sound as they approach veteran status from their beginnings as upstarts in what at the time was (and I suppose still is) a crowded European psychedelic underground.
In light of the conflict currently embroiling Ukraine, it is easy to read The Space as bittersweet, and Somali Yacht Club‘s craft has always had its share of melancholy. I’ll offer instead not necessarily an alternate read but perhaps one that accounts more for the awe the trio seem to express in what they’re witnessing in the songs themselves. It is as though they’re on the same journey as the listener, moving outward into the unknown, sure of the getting there even as the destination remains intentionally vague. Most of all, The Space is resonant. In shimmering guitar and rich low end, in its lush swells and directed minimalism, it is a triumph beyond expectation and a reminder that the light and warmth, the star-stuff that makes life possible, is in constant wavelength motion.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Ukrainian heavy rockers Stoned Jesus have inked a deal to release their next album and perhaps more through Season of Mist. The Kyiv-based trio follow quickly in the footsteps of countrymen and tour-mates Somali Yacht Club in aligning with the label, and their fifth full-length will follow behind 2018’s Pilgrims (review here), which was their most ambitious and progressive-sounding offering to-date. I’ve been looking forward to the new stuff since they entered the studio last July, and if I’m honest, before that as well.
It’s impossible to get out of this post (nor would I try) without mentioning that Stoned Jesus‘ home country has been invaded for the last month-plus (years, really) by neighboring Russian military forces. If you follow the band or guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko on social media, you’ve already seen first-hand accounts of their current life in Ukraine, a question more of surviving than promoting their band. Their Spring tour with Samavayo, which was set to begin at the end of next week, was canceled owing to the fighting and the band’s very real need to be where they currently are. For what it’s worth — next to nothing — I wish them the best and hope this little bit of good news heralds more to come on the more serious issues they and their nation are facing. It seems low-stakes to compare heavy rock and war, but these are lives we’re talking about either way.
Season of Mist is proud to announce the signing of psychedelic rock trio STONED JESUS. Forged in Kyiv in 2009, this Ukrainian band submerges themselves in the world of doom, grunge and prog, while maintaining their own identity. Their upcoming album will be the fifth in line and the first to be released through Season Of Mist.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Igor Sydorenko comments: “I’ve always been a huge fan of progressive music – progressive not in the number of notes played per second, but progressive in terms of songwriting, concept and attitude.
“And I rarely saw rock and metal labels encouraging this deeper approach, until I discovered Season Of Mist. This is the label that I can describe with one word: ‘eclectic.’ And this is the label that not only approves the idea of artistic freedom, but openly indulges in it! So we’re extremely happy that these exact people are going to help us share our creative vision with the whole world from now on.”
Formed by Igor Sydorenko in Kyiv in 2009, STONED JESUS quickly progressed beyond their tongue-in-cheek moniker. The Ukrainian trio’s second full length “Seven Thunders Road” converged doom, prog and grunge in their own recognizable way and the album’s centrepiece, 13-min long “I’m the Mountain”, boasts 15 million plays on YouTube.
STONED JESUS’s next LP “The Harvest” sounded like a blend of MASTODON, PORCUPINE TREE and SOUNDGARDEN, and their charismatic live shows and relentless touring schedule helped to double and then triple their fanbase in mere months.
While being integral to the European psychedelic rock scene STONED JESUS helped popularize, creatively STONED JESUS never stopped pushing the envelope, taking influences for their newer material from such diverse acts like SWANS, THE CURE, KING CRIMSON and DEFTONES.
Line-up: Lead-Vocals and Guitar: Igor Sydorenko Bass and backing vocals: Sergii Sliusar Drums and backing vocals: Dmytro Zinchenko
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 17th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
There’s a lot you could say about this, as for the last few weeks Russia has been bombarding Ukraine in an invasion apparently attempting to recapture some kind of perceived Soviet heyday on the part of Russian president Vladimir Putin, but really, all the thoughtful analysis has been done. All the thinkpieces are either written or currently in progress and I have nothing much to add to it except to say that human beings have treated each other like fucking garbage since before the dawn of time. Even twins consume each other in the womb if they can. People are fucking scum.
The rest of us in the world outside Kyiv, well, golly, we’d sure like to help out with that no-fly zone but I’m sure seizing some yachts and making the deep sacrifice of paying more for gas will bring Russia to heel. Right, doesn’t that sound likely? No, I’m not casting my Senate vote as a dickweed music blogger for sending ground troops. I’m saying if we as a species weren’t a complete fucking wash there wouldn’t be a war in the first place. And in the meantime, I’ve found the ease with which my own country has turned to lazy, stereotype caricature of Russian culture with a lack of acknowledgement of our own imperial history — hi from a nation born of colonialist genocide and built by slaves who just spent 20 years in Afghanistan for… some reason — to be likewise fucking disconcerting.
So yeah, here’s a tour canceled on account of war instead of plague. Coming soon, famine and death.
Fuck everything:
STONED JESUS + SAMAVAYO TOUR CANCELLED
Hi friends,
Due to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, and Stoned Jesus being a Ukrainian band stuck in their country, all tour dates with Samavayo need to be cancelled.
It’s extremely hard to find words for all this, so please best simply read Stoned Jesus’ statement below and think about helping / donating if you haven’t already. We hope this nightmare will end very soon and send all our strength and hope to people in Ukraine and those affected.
STONED JESUS STATEMENT
“This spring should’ve been about celebrating the tenth anniversary of our most important album, Seven Thunders Roar. Hitting the road, meeting the old friends and making the new ones, playing our music, spreading the message of peace and mutual understanding. Unfortunately, right now for us and our whole country it’s all about survival. We’ll see each other soon, when the dictator and his horde are defeated, and the new Stoned Jesus album will also be released this year. For now – don’t pray for us, rather donate to Ukrainian charity via link in our bio. The Truth is on our side!”
HOW TO HELP
https://linktr.ee/HowToHelpUkraine2022 (Link from Stoned Jesus’ bio)
Please also check with your ticket provider, some might be able to offer donating your ticket to Ukrainian charity instead of returning it.
Thank you for your support, Your SOL Crew
Stoned Jesus is: Igor Sydorenko – Vocals & Guitars Serhij Sljussar – Bass Dmytro Zinchenko – Drums
Samavayo is: Behrang Alavi, Andreas Voland & Stephan Voland
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Preorders are available now for the second full-length from Lviv, Ukrainian post-metallers Nonsun, titled Blood & Spirit. One might call that title prescient as regards the war that’s broken out in their home country over the last couple weeks following an unceremonious invasion by the neighboring Russia, but the fact is the title is more than three weeks old, and even if you want to cite that Ukraine and Russia have been in direct conflict since 2014 — before Nonsun even released their 2016 debut, Black Snow Desert — the band take pains to note that they’re working from different ideas than recent headlines. So it goes.
In my home country, we’ve returned to a woefully comfortable disdain for Russia — those with half a thought to spare note it’s “not the Russian people” before launching into some stereotyped declaration or mockery — with shades of what I remember of the end of the Cold War, which I admit isn’t much. In the age of internet fundraising — be careful out there — money has also been donated to Ukrainian aid from a vast swath of sources, up to and including the merchandise for this site as well as the federal government and too many others for me to count. Perhaps in the spirit of helping the band from day to day on the ground in Lviv, they’ll receive 100 percent of the proceeds from the preorders, and if that’s not enough to convince you to place one, there’s an album teaser streaming below that lets you know what you’re in for.
To wit:
NONSUN – Blood & Spirit
You may be familiar with this Lviv, Ukraine quartet from their debut album Black Snow Desert, which we released back in 2018. But whatever you think you know about them, put it to the side in preparation for their sophomore effort. Whereas their first album was intended to be like a single composition spread across six tracks, Blood & Spirit is more a collection of distinct, standalone songs, each telling its own story. And what stories they have to tell! We loved the dense and often demanding drone/sludge approach of Black Snow Desert, but what listeners will discover on Blood & Spirit is truly a force to behold, blending the breathtaking immensity of their doom leanings with a gripping immediacy that’s more consistent with traditional post-metal stylings.
Listeners who loved Black Snow Desert will still find some callback to that record’s drone leanings, particularly on Blood & Spirit’s back half. Both “Guilt, Disgust, Disaster” and “In Your Eyes I’m a Cripple” feature lengthy opening passages that gradually establish an oppressively bleak tone before eventually erupting into explosive crescendos that provide powerful counterpoints to the creeping atmospherics that precede them. Though it is technically an instrumental record, vocals do play a role in a non-traditional, non-lyrical fashion. The band consistently integrates rumbling, guttural vocalizations and breathy chants into the fabric of the songs, subtly perceptible but effective in building a looming sense of dread that pervades the album.
Fans of doom, drone, post-metal, and avant-garde music should consider this 2xLP a must-have. It’s one of the most compelling combinations of principles from those brethren genres put to record in some time, offering an increased accessibility without sacrificing the potent ferocity or probing experimentalism Nonsun initiated with Black Snow Desert. Blood & Spirit reveals a group of musicians tightening their collective grip on an already-compelling conceptual framework and elevating it to new levels of might and impact.
Words from Nonsun: “Never could we imagine how painfully relevant the album’s title would sound near the time of release… Wish it wouldn’t. Initially it was meant to have a more personal meaning. The songs were written and recorded in 2016-2020. The album title refers to spiritual struggles through the bloodiest of times. The five tracks, in a sense, are yearnings, or prayers, thrown into the void. What doesn’t kill you… Does it make you stronger? Or leave you even more crippled? When all magic is gone… Is wisdom worth a thing? It’s about raising questions rather than giving answers. As the rational mind & willpower fail, a spiritual quest begins”
(Also, all the song titles, the artwork, the description above have all been created and finalized during 2016-2021, thus well before the war).
Words from Dunk!records: “Obviously you are all aware of the devastating situation in Ukraine. You might also know about one of our label bands, Nonsun, who live in Lviv, Ukraine. At this moment, all band members and their families are ok. However, the circumstances are difficult and their lives are completely upside down. In agreement with the band we decided to launch the pre-orders for their new album Blood & Spirit. This creates an opportunity for us and for you to support the band in these hard times. Dunk!records will donate 100% of the profits to the band (as well as all profits for their 2018 release Black Snow Desert) as of today until release day (April 15th, 2022).”
Pre-order digital album here: https://bit.ly/Nonsun_BloodSpirit_Digital
Tracklisting: 1. A Wizard Grieving Over the Loss of Magic 2. That Which Does Not Kill 3. Days of Thunder Bring New Wisdom 4. Guilt, Disgust, Disaster 5. In Your Eyes I’m a Cripple
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 17th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Both Stoned Jesus and Samavayo have new records impending for 2022. That’s good news out of Kyiv and Berlin, as far as I’m concerned. That the two heavy rock units will pair up for a run of European tour dates? Well, that’s pretty nifty as well.
And Stoned Jesus? They’re well within their rights to take out 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here) for another go for its 10th anniversary. However many millions of YouTube plays later for “I’m the Mountain,” it’s safe to say they’ve inspired a fair amount of riffage in the years since Seven Thunders Roar came out — and I’m not saying I’ve heard anything from their next full-length or something like that — but some of their new stuff blends those heavy-rolling impulses with the band’s newer, more progressive style as well. From what I (haven’t) heard, in any case.
This’ll be a good run. I hope it happens, and if you get to go, I hope it’s a killer time. Shows presented by Sound of Liberation.
Dates were posted as follows:
Stoned Jesus – 10 Years of Seven Thunders Roar tour with Samavayo
This is happening!!! With our first tour in 2+ years we’ll be celebrating 10 Years Of Seven Thunders Roar all over Europe in April of 2022 #10yearsofSTR
The rest of the world – no worries, we’ll try to get to you as well. Keep an eye on Sound of Liberation updates!
Our pals from Samavayo will be supporting us – their new album arrives in late March! Our new album, btw, arrives a little later in 2022
Sound of Liberation proudly presents: Stoned Jesus + very special guests Samavayo 10 Years Of Seven Thunders Roar – Europe 2022
08.04.22 – Hannover | CAFE GLOCKSEE 09.04.22 – Siegen | Vortex Surfer Musikclub 10.04.22 – Wiesbaden | Schlachthof Wiesbaden 11.04.22 – Hamburg | Knust Hamburg 12.04.22 – Nijmegen | Doornroosje 13.04.22 – Aachen | Musikbunker Aachen 14.04.22 – Dortmund | JunkYard 15.04.22 – Amsterdam | Melkweg Amsterdam 16.04.22 – Gent | Kunstencentrum Vooruit 17.04.22 – Paris | Petit Bain 18.04.22 – Nantes | Le Ferrailleur – Club Concert 19.04.22 – Toulouse | Connexion Live 20.04.22 – Bilbao | Kafe Antzokia 21.04.22 – Porto | Hard Club 22.04.22 – Madrid | SALA CARACOL MADRID 23.04.22 – Barcelona | Razzmatazz 25.04.22 – Martigny | Caves du Manoir 26.04.22 – München | Feierwerk 27.04.22 – Vienna | Chelsea 28.04.22 – Zürich | Dynamo Zürich (offiziell) 29.04.22 – Nürnberg | MUZclub 30.04.22 – Dresden | Beatpol
Stoned Jesus is: Igor Sydorenko – Vocals & Guitars Serhij Sljussar – Bass Dmytro Zinchenko – Drums
Samavayo is: Behrang Alavi, Andreas Voland & Stephan Voland
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Though best known as the frontman of Kyiv-based heavy rock forerunners Stoned Jesus, guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko always seems to have something going on in addition to that outfit, whether it’s Krobak or stand-up comedy or whatever it might be. Arlekin is a prog-minded solo incarnation, with which Sydorenko debuted in 2014 via Disguise Serenades, professing at the time his love of neo-prog rock, particularly Marillion (also mentioned below) and relating it to his discovery of that music, saying, “This is an attempt to recreate a naïve sincerity of that different kind music, the music that is still around but not really popular. Ok, not popular at all.”
And it’s true, Arlekin‘s kind of prog — pastoral, not overly technical, rooted in folk at least as much as rock, fluid instrumentally and melodically, not shy about throwing some piano or flute or synth in the arrangement, whatever the song might call for — has never been cool. It’s always been too genuine for that. Accordingly, there’s no irony in “In Possession of the Moon,” and even as 12-minute opener and longest cut (immediate points) “Old Mother Europe” pushes some distortion forward in its later moments, there’s never volume expended simply for its own sake. From the playful pop of “Night of Two Knights” to the bassier proto-New Wave of “It Wouldn’t Last,” the organ-meets-mellotron flow of “Mirror of Shadows” and the more directly keyboardian instrumental “Adult’s Responsibilities” at the finish, each piece is in conversation with a different side of what progressive rock might mean, and they’re drawn together by the organic production and performance of Sydorenko himself.
Nov. 5 is the release date for The Secret Garden. More info follows:
ARLEKIN – The Secret Garden
ARLEKIN is a love letter to British neo-progressive rock scene of the 1980s, delivered by Igor Sydorenko, known for his work in STONED JESUS, KROBAK and other projects.
“Hearing Marillion’s debut album, ‘Script For A Jester’s Tear,’ back in 2003 changed my life. I’d been writing and recording music before that, but this particular brand of melodic and emotional song-oriented progressive rock became my jam,” says Sydorenko. “Discovering other bands from the genre like IQ, Pallas, Pendragon and Collage only further cemented my affection toward the style, so it felt natural write some material of my own own in this vein.” With demos surfacing online on prog music forums since 2005, ARLEKIN’s debut LP, ‘Disguise Serenades,’ arrived only in 2014.
Being busy with STONED JESUS, now a household name for heavy and prog rock audiences across the globe, Igor nevertheless found some time last year to dig through and rework old demos to finally bring ‘The Secret Garden,’ ARLEKIN’s second album, to life. Even if you’re not familiar with the genre but enjoy the likes of Genesis, Pink Floyd, Camel or even Tears for Fears, give this short release a spin or two!
Tracklisting: 1. Old Mother Europe 2. Night of Two Knights 3. In Possession of the Moon 4. It Wouldn’t Last 5. Mirror of Shadows 6. Adult’s Responsibilities
