DisAgreement Online

Half a year after their last album An Ambassador In Bonds, Russian quartet Compassionizer is back with their new EP As Smoke Is Driven Away, which consists of a single twenty minute long track. If there ever was a band whose sound defined the genre “chamber prog”, it would be Compassionizer, even if they didn’t invent that peculiar stylistic approach.

You shouldn’t expect an entirely new sound after six months, but what makes As Smoke Is Driven Away so great is how this epic track feels like a miniature symphony with all kinds of moods and movements, surprising the listener with every new twist and turn. Even though the quartet can be broadly summarised as a progressive rock band, the main instruments here are not guitar, bass and drums, but rather clarinet, bass clarinet, haunting synths and occasional percussive elements. Ok, there’s a little guitar here and there, but it fits right into the overall mix.

This is a rather unique piece of work, and still I feel reminded of other outstanding composers and artists. The bleak and dark beauty of it all makes me think of Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, also a piece written during a time of war (and probably in even darker circumstances) that has a lot of religious imagery. This is exactly something that Compassionizer and their keyboarder Ivan Rozmainsky, also known as member and name giver of Russian progressive rock band Roz Vitalis, is fond of doing. Other thoughts that popped up in my head were Peter Hammill’s 1974 album In Camera which has a similar unusual, gothic texture, and also avant prog bands like Univers Zero and Art Zoyd which are best listened to late at night with the lights dimmed.

If you are looking for an easy-listening experience, you should quickly walk away. As Smoke Is Driven Away is so far Compassionizer’s most ambitious work to date. The album can be downloaded for any price you like on their Bandcamp page, and streamed on most streaming sites. Those who enjoy their progressive music dark and demanding should be delighted by this mammoth piece of music.