We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Narrow is the Road

by Compassionizer

supported by
Nickie Harte Kelly
Nickie Harte Kelly thumbnail
Nickie Harte Kelly Thoughtful progressive avant chamber music outfit is the latest brainchild of Roz Vitalis’ Ivan Rozmainsky. A vast array of instrumentation, comprising the usual electric suspects as well as strings, clarinets, marimba and many percussive elements bring the sometimes dark, yet mostly hopeful compositions to life here. All proceeds are going to Ukrainian refugees living in Hamburg, Germany Favorite track: Black Sky White.
/
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Kramatorsk 14:32
9.
Road 03:42

about

"Great album. Unlike the previous one and despite the theme, it is light and cheerful. Only two tracks are sorrowful and disquieting. At the same time the music is deep and touching. That`s why I sincerely recommend to listen to the album. We need such light in darkness.
Only One Road for the Wayward, Black Sky White and Road, based on soundtracks for the poems, here are completely different. It can be compared with black-and-white and colorful paintings. Both versions are great but this one is richer and more interesting.
In addition, I would like to highlight such advantages of this album as wholeness and variety."

(c) ProAnastasia
www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=7049

***
"I definitely estimate this work as a great one, however, as i see, some reviewers consider the album as Intended for a narrow circle of listeners. This music is proper to get contact with your conscience and to stop realizing and feeling time and all the things around. If you do not might me saying, for me personally the album is sated by such a spiritualistic energy, which makes me barely breathe. Especially it concerns the following three compositions: "Looking from the Dome", "In Things Too High for Me" and "Black Sky White". By the way, the last one is my favorite."

(c) mhskey
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2851621

***

"Once I said many of melodies created by this talented team can act as a perfect soundtrack to a movie. I would say this album is a new stage in the artistic development of Ivan and his peers because any theme in this work IS a movie with real plot twists, suspense moments, climaxes, and endings, happy or not. All the themes are inventive, expressive, and I would highly visual. Using only the power of the sound Ivan literally paints a dynamic series of pictures (always very personal and subjective of course) like in cartoons. By its free flow of an artist's thought and impetuous and continuous change of surrealistic images this collection looks like a third season of Shivering Truth by Vernon Chapman expressed in the language of music, though more diverse in its moods and genres. Every theme is like a story. It can a fairy tale like I need you to help, or a ballad like Narrow in the Road, or sometimes even a detailed documentary, though full of cry and tragedy, like Kramatorsk. And every one is a real gem and masterpiece. A great deal of effort is felt in every component of this work. One of the best if not the best album of Ivan and his team. My congratulations!"

(c) Vanamonde
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2850403

***

"Released towards the end of 2022, here we have the third album from the Roz Vitalis side project, Compassionizer. This time around Bayun the Cat has been reduced to being one of a number of guests, but the rest of the core band has stayed the same with Serghei Liubcenco (electric & acoustic guitars, rubab, doira, other percussion & drums, whistles), Leonid Perevalov (bass clarinets), AndRey Stefinoff (clarinets) plus of course Ivan Rozmainsky (Roland Juno- D, Pribor Neofit, Arturia MiniBrute & other synths, kalimba, vibraphone, marimba). Ivan is involved in a few bands these days, which allows him to progress his music in different directions in different ensembles, and in many ways this release is one of his most interesting yet.
The use of guests providing both trumpet and violin has allowed him to increase the sonic depth he has available to play with, and he has taken the opportunity to move Compassionizer even further into Rio/Avant while also bringing in huge elements of modern classical music. There are times when I am reminded of After Crying, but only if they had been working with Art Zoyd, as they investigate what different instruments can do in a somewhat baroque or even chamber music setting. It is quite possible that many will feel he has crossed right out of progressive rock altogether with this release which would certainly find as many fans within the avant modern classical as it will to those of us who enjoy RIO. One never knows quite where the music is going to lead, or indeed which instruments will be leading it, with Ivan the master conductor and arranger ensuring it somehow all fits together seamlessly. The Russian progressive rock scene is still producing some wonderful music and Ivan Rozmainsky is at the forefront of much of this, and this album clearly demonstrates why as it is a wonderful introduction into his world."

(c) Kev Rowland
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2937115

***

"Prolific and ambitiously adventurous composer/musician Ivan Rozmainsky (of Roz Vitalis fame) is back with his new collective of virtuoso collaborators for a third album release since 2020. And it's a good one!
1. "Only One Road for the Wayward" (7:20) Ivan & co. here move more into the discordant world of avant jazz artists like JOHN ZORN and YUGEN. I think this one succeeds because of its slow, spacious pacing and "conscientious" note-making. (13.25/15)

2. "The Invasion of a Crying Shame" (3:53) starts off as if picking up where the first song left off, but then quickly becomes something different--a kind of middle school band practice session for the horn section. Interesting for how loose and sloppy the timing is for the instrumentalists engaging in the weave. (Yes, I can tell it's done intentionally.) The grating electric guitar injected into the final quarter is surprising and a little off-putting. It's as if a 2:00 AM jam of rather tired and, probably, drunk musicians is being recorded. Not quite sure of the reason or motivation for this song to be included on a publicly-released album. (8.5/10)

3. "Black Sky White" (5:25) there's a bit of a Celtic or even Acadian folk feel to this one. (It reminds me very much of the music from the Québecois band, CONVENTUM's 1979 album, Le bureau central des utopies.) I like it for the predominance of acoustic instrumentation. Very nice finish. A top three song for me. (9.25/10)

4. "I Need You to Help" (5:50) built around weave of comparatively sappy melodies, Serghei Liubcenco's choice for guitar sound once again mystifies me: like using a kitchen appliance, he can sure make some noise! The scaled down interlude in the middle reminds me of MASSIVE ATTACK's "Teardrop" but then we move into Asian-infused, cheesy drum-machine-led, mediæval weave while the wildest collection of disparate instruments somehow move forward together, as a rag-tag ensemble. Adventurous and laughable yet admirable! My final top three song. (9/10)

5. "Narrow Is the Road" (5:14) again Ivan & company bring together an ensemble of classical and jazz instruments to create a pathway that is somehow moving forward while taking turns giving up the leadership position, this causing some uncertain movement and moment--this despite the definitive title. Perhaps the road is old, less traveled, and poorly maintained. Anyway, against all odds, the band somehow pulls it together for the final quarter of the song to reveal some beautiful teamwork. The weave then turns to avant chamber jazz sounding quite similar to the work of Belarusian bands Rational Diet, Five-Storey Ensemble, and Archestra. Here are some quite lovely "traveling" melodies conveyed in the second half of the song. This is certainly one post-apocalyptic (or pre-industrial) band of road travelers that I would enjoy being with or encountering. My favorite song on the album. (9.5/10)

6. "In Things Too High for Me" (8:40) the solo kalimba in this song's opening does not fool me for a minute. The music quickly shifts into an electrically-founded trapse of troubadours--which occasionally turns space alien (minute #2) and Asian (minute #3). This one sounds as if it could come from some of DAVE NEWHOUSE's zany collaborations--the Moon Men or Moon X projects. In the final third the structure becomes tight, organized, almost classical, this despite the odd mix of instruments. It's a very Paolo "SKE" Botta-like sound. Not my favorite piece but interesting. (17/20)

7. "Looking from the Dome" (5:37) concertina/organ and rock electric guitar open this one before winds and cymbals join in to create a near-klezmer weave. Banjo and strings join before wah-ed guitar takes the lead. the percussion-driven rhythm and pacing remind me very much of parts of MIKE OLDFIELD's 1979 masterpiece of four "Incantations." The final stripped down minute feels more African tribal with they now-typical odd assortment of collaborating instruments. (8.75/10)

8. "Kramatorsk" (14:32) violin announces the Russian melody theme before low winds take over. Then drums This could very much be a piece by Markus Pajakkala's UTOPIANISTI--except for the fact that it doesn't change, progress, shift, or develop as dynamically as Markus' compositions. This one drags on--rather like a New Orleans funeral procession. The addtion of heavily distorted guitar strumming in the second half does little to enhance the (lack of) interesting or pleasurable development of the song. The Psycho-like violin (and, later, synthesizer) screams in the eleventh minute are surprising and, once again, do little to enhance the likeability of the song (except if you're a lover of King Crimson or Art Zoyd at their most angular/dissonant). Again, I know not the intent or message the band was trying to convey here, but it is one that is, unfortunately, totally lost to me. I understand and appreciate the adventurousness, skill, and vision it takes to compose and perform something like this, it's just not my cup of tea. (25/30)

9. "Road" (3:42) this sounds like a cute little Baroque chamber piece--something being performed for a small private audience or as background music for a museum opening. (8.5/10)

Total Time 60:13

With this album I think Ivan and his intrepid collaborators have put together their finest effort. The sound engineering and production is excellent with great clarity of each and every single instrument. My favorite selections on the album are, of course, the more chamber-oriented pieces dominated by acoustic instruments and mediæval-like folk sounds and weaves.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any lover of truly adventurous progressive rock music."

(c) BrufordFreak
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2851661

***

"Another fantastic album from Compassionizer that really represents the sheer versatility on display from them. Rather than the more brooding atmosphere and cold, alien quality that would often shine through with the stronger use of electronics on past albums, Narrow Is The Road takes on a far warmer, more uplifting tone while maintaining a lot of the moodiness that make them so compelling. The range of instruments, while being about as diverse as before, still sound very different as a result. You'll find a lot more symphonic elements especially, with the assortment of woodwind and brass being utilised to craft an atmosphere just as compelling as past output has been. The compositions themselves feel like a bit of a step up as well, still focusing far more strongly on crafting a mood and soundscape that evokes a range of emotions that often feel rather hard to define entirely, but this time around, everything sounds that touch more dynamic and impactful. This is especially true with the way that everything flows together as smoothly as it does, to the point where you'll end up hearing certain passages and ideas being reused later on but under a different context which ends up further expanding upon and refining what was already there, positively contributing to each rendition that's performed.
The electric guitar is another favourite aspect of this to me with the way that it's almost always implemented in such unconventional ways without entirely derailing the experience. The way that The Invasion of a Crying Shame uses it is especially powerful, breaking through the rather subtle, layered composition with a wave of roaring distortion that then gets played around smoothly and almost instantly, providing a certain intensity that I am a huge fan of when used in smaller doses in the context of an album such as this. The way that Narrow Is The Road is able to have such left turns while maintaining a practically unbreakable sense of momentum is rather impressive and sophisticated, essentially hiding its more avant-garde tendencies in plain sight time and time again and making for a fantastic experience to full absorb and break down all the nuances of. I basically always feel rather excited about seeing this band make a new album since they're so consistently great and interesting in how differently they're approached. In this case, I'd say that Narrow is the Road marks the band's most conventionally prog album in how it's structured, but that doesn't make it any less great at what it does. While An Ambassador In Bonds remains my favourite album Ivan Rozmainsky is involved with at this point, fans of atmospheric prog should not ignore this one either, as it's more fantastic music that makes full use of a wide range of instrumentation to craft another album that sounds rather unique and exciting."

(c) Kempokid
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2853775

***

"It’s only been one year since I reviewed Compassionizer’s album An Ambassador In Bonds, and the avant chamber prog ensemble from Russia is already back with their third album Narrow Is The Road. The collective, consisting currently of four musicians, is led by the ever-busy Ivan Rozmainsky, although five guest musicians are adding their talents to the setup. Those familiar with Ivan Rozmainsky know him as the head behind progressive rock band Roz Vitalis, although he has also released already quite a few solo albums, focusing on his piano work.

The new album has a more acoustic layout, although there is also room for synth work and electric guitars. The first half of the album is the harder to access. The seven-minute-long opener Only One Road For The Wayward starts with a trumpet, before an acoustic guitar joins in. Bass clarinet and clarinet join in, plus assorted percussion, to create a dense piece that in its second half works with some dissonant moods before ending in a more conciliatory tone. The following The Invasion Of A Crying Shame starts with a similar melody, but its use of electric guitar gives it a certain prog rock edge. Black Sky White has a melancholic violin and an overall more folk approach. I Need You To Help comes with synth bass lines that like last time remind of Peter Hammill’s In Camera record from 1974. The title track ends the first half of the album with another folk sounding piece.

The second half begins with the nearly nine minute long In Things Too High For Me, which shows that Compassionizer really do well with longer structures, especially when they add a little more rhythm to the mix, making this a perfect hybrid of avant prog, chamber music and ethic folk. Looking For The Dome is driven by electric guitar, which is rather unusual for this album. The centrepiece of the album is the quarter hour long Kramatorsk, named after the city in Ukraine. And despite this being an instrumental album, the train sounds reveal that this piece is about the April 2022 bombings of the train station which left dozens of people for dead. It’s really an emotive composition with a recurring leitmotif always played a little differently. The album ends with the melancholic Road.

I dare say that Narrow Is The Road is so far Compassionizer’s best and most mature album. Of course you should not expect easy listening music. During their bleakest moments, the music reminds me at times of Messiaen’s Quartet For The End Of Time, a classical piece which not only was also written during a time of war, but because of its use of clarinet and violin even has occasional sonic parallels, as both Messiaen and Compassionizer have a strong spiritual side to their music. The folk moments rarely pin down to one specific geographic location, but rather evoke a magical place beyond this earthly realm. Friends of angular acoustic prog rock and also fans of Rock In Opposition have something to chew on, but if you prefer daytime pop radio, you better stay away."

(c) Pascal Thiel
www.disagreement.net/reviews2022/compassionizer_narrowistheroad.html

***

"One of the most fascinating albums I've been sent for review was An Ambassador in Bonds, which was last year's release from Russian band Compassionizer. My review followed my futile attempts to figure out quite what Ivan Rozmainsky and the various musicians he enlisted were trying to do, right down to the genre of music they played. For the sake of a label, it's progressive rock, but it's not prog in a typical form. The lead instrument was a clarinet, for a start! I didn't reach the term "chamber prog", which is perfect, in that review but I found the links to classical music clear.

It's probably easier to do that here on their next album, which is their third, and now I've seen the term, I can google it and see that it's quite a movement that goes back to bands like Aksak Maboul and Univers Zero. Hello, new rabbit hole, my friend! This could be considered pure chamber prog, I guess, because it doesn't remotely pretend to sit in the rock genre. What percussion there is here is a long way from traditional drumming, and, while Rozmainsky brings in abrasive textures on his synths, almost with the goal of keeping this experimental, the vast majority of these tracks could been recorded with the instruments in a school music room, albeit maybe not an English one.

And, given that most of it is happier and calmer in nature than the prior album, it's not much of a stretch to picture that. Music was a mandatory class at my grammar school in England and I recall certain moments where the teacher taught us unusual approaches, like creating a score not with traditional notes but with lines of colour or even random squiggles. Our attempts to interpret the results on xylophones and violins, or whatever we had to hand, probably sounded painful, but now I can look back and imagine Andre Stefinoff as a child prodigy picking up a clarinet in that class to play a piece like The Invasion of a Crying Shame, with Rozmainsky and Serghei Liubcenco joining in on the nearest instruments.

While I liked the opener, Only One Road for the Wayward, which probably contains the darkest of the material here, especially in its jazzy midsection, The Invasion of a Crying Shame is where this album grabbed me. It's a wildly experimental piece but it doesn't seem so because its melody is a timeless earworm that it steals our focus. It has a mediaeval troubadour feel to me but a carefree one with hints of darkness, as if the plague had visited town but then moved on again leaving only a couple of people dead instead of everyone. There's certainly solemnity in it but hope as well.

And things certainly get happier and more hopeful from there, in Black Sky White and especially I Need You to Help and onward, to provide an increasingly uplifting tone after this early darkness. I liked this shift in tone, even though I'm usually fonder of the darker material on albums. Last time out, I mentioned that it would have seemed jazzy, if everything didn't seem so deliberately placed. This album is jazzier, because it's less deliberately placed. It's looser and folkier and more organic and textures arrive and depart whenever they feel like it.

I often got the feeling, especially on songs like the title track, that Rozmainsky simply acquired a slew of interesting musical instruments and placed them into a studio to serve as a well equipped petting zoo, then invited only professional musicians with open minds to check them out. They did so, seeing what sounds might manifest from a rubab or a doira or a tbilat, promptly tapping into each other's grooves. The beginning of In Things Too High for Me could have been the theme tune to a BBC children's show on the wireless in the fifties. Naturally that show would have been about creativity and the synths that Rozmainsky adds next would have blown people's minds back then.

The only catch to the looseness and spontaneity is that his electronic overlays sometimes become a distraction, as with the staticky glitch work on Kramatorsk. I loved the beeps and chirps on most of these songs, like The Invasion of a Crying Shame or In Things Too High for Me, but I was notably frustrated by Kramatorsk, which I ended up removing from the playlist as I listened through again and again to see how this grew and shifted on me with repeats. While Kramatorsk is fourteen and a half minutes of music, even taking it out leaves three quarters of an hour to explore over and over.

That track is why I'm only going with 7/10 this time, instead of the 8/10 that I gave An Ambassador in Bonds. This is more fascinating chamber prog, lighter and looser but just as enticing and worthy of a heck of a lot of exploration. Thanks, Hans and Ivan, for sending this one over."

(c) Hal C. F. Astell
www.apocalypselatermusic.com/2022/12/compassionizer-narrow-is-road-2022.html?m=1

***

"The album "Narrow is the Road" is more coherent than the previous two. It feels the spirit of the present time, the ongoing difficult events that have affected Ukraine and Russia this year. In every note, one can feel personal involvement of the performers and the transfer of this to the listeners. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." This gospel saying best fits the theme of the album. There are fewer things that are heavy in perception and in mood than on previous albums; rather there is a certain mood that awakens all the best inside the human mind, inside our understanding on the path of searching for the truth. The titles of the compositions are also united by one goal - the awakening of reason and mercy. Here is a musical example that shows that it is possible to speak about difficult things in a very simple language. It is not difficult to be a humanist and it is not too late to become; while you're still alive, do it faster so the world doesn't fall apart. The composer Jenkins has an oratorio titled "A Mass for Peace". The album "Narrow is the Road" can safely be called its continuation."

(c) Naida Regent
www.progarchies.com/Review.asp?id=2847502

***

"Compassionizer begins following Roz Vitalis in 2020. Ivan Rozmainsky of said group is helped by Leonid and Serghei to compose a musical score eyeing Univers Zero, Henri Cow. I also note Le Orme, Gentle Giant, King Crimson; strange sounds, almost detuned melodies diffusing an uncontrolled musical atmosphere, finally that is at the beginning taken by this tumult of this 3rd album of singular chamber music.
'Only One Road for the Wayward' arrives with an intimate piece; a gloomy air, a jazzy atmosphere in the middle followed by sound effects of spatial synths and wind instruments, modern folk, on an acoustic Sigur Ros 'The Invasion of a Crying Shame' duo or clarinet triplet for a medieval journey; the image a cover of Morte Macabre on the pestilential, stressful, depressing end of the world. 'Black Sky White' relieves with a creaking violin aided by clarinet, harp, acoustic guitar; the troubadours escaped from the cover of the first Dead Can Dance; it wanders on a tuned, improvised non-suite; we are between the Asian, Andalusian folklore of the arid mountains and that of the wild Pyrenees. 'I Need You to Help' for a moment of peace; a welcoming flute, the less dark sax, a few bells from the percussion, fresh, almost jovial title. 'Narrow Is the Road' continues with the same instruments we've grown accustomed to, otherwise it's a break; the sound is no longer grating, just expressive; sound that makes you see an aggressive fly flying.

'In Things Too High for Me' 3rd floor ringtone, ah a marimba, a diffluent flute, a monolithic synth invading beeps; a title where the instruments seem to find their place gradually as if on a playing field. Its also disconcerting where rubab, doira, tbilat come to jam with the clarinets; Balkan folk in the background, invading synth with a percussion which reassures by the rhythm. 'Looking from the Dome' superb intro too fast because after chiseled violins come to help the electric guitar to transport you in a fiery state of casualness; I begin to understand the photo of the cover even if we stay on the melodic edge. 'Kramatorsk' if you pass the 3'20'' it's good; air difficult to access, harder than zeuhl, with trumpet, swirling clarinet and a percussion which gives a rhythm; in the middle of a burlesque western, in 'Delicatessen' with the musical saw; it's hypnotic and cacophonous indeed, even the doors can't close; intense work of Crimsonian research. If you manage to exceed 10 minutes, it means that you find the album exceptional, stronger than on 'Starless' for example; the end is restful. 'Road' for the finale which puts you at peace, which relieves your spirit, with a restful, solemn flute.

Compassionizer with its avant-garde sound, you will have understood it, delivers complex chamber music on abrasive, exhausting structures from which finally emerges a music made of bits of folk, of random atmosphere; a very avant-garde chamber program that deals with the importance of choosing the right path and the consequences and constraints associated with it. Compassionizer has created a bewitching album for those who still dare to take the time to listen to something else and differently."

(c) alainPP
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2897130


***

" Wow, never expected to have a band reach out to me to review one of their new albums. That is definitely an exciting thing to notice as it can mean discovering new and interesting music from new, possibly groundbreaking artists. It is fun discovering music. Although, sometimes you might get something that doesn't work for you, and I find Narrow Is The Road, the newest release of Compassionizer, aka the band that recommended this record, doesn't quite work for me.
I do not wish to lay down all the negatives right from the get go since I do not desire to bash any band 'less I feel they deserve a high amount of criticism, so to start: I find this album's sound to be very pretty in many cases. The band merging delicate uses of folk, and classical with very prominent Avant Garde jazz that Frank Zappa or Henry Cow could make is something I am quite fond of. They are very clearly talented musicians, and their talent really does shine with songs like Black Sky White and Road. You get very soft and delicate passages for the most part, but sometimes the band can rise a bit, ever so slightly to where once you notice it, it sort of sticks with you throughout the album, which I think is great. You gotta make your music stick to your audience, and the best way to do that is to create an impression with a treatable sound. For me, this album, for the most, does deliver on a more than welcome sound.

My problem with this album lies within the lack of any real juice behind these weirder passages of music. I can tell these are very good musicians, and I highly respect their craft, but I feel as though they aren't playing with their hearts. The music here sounds rather empty, and more weird to be weird rather than being weird to make a statement, or to be funny, or just to make something off the walls in how they can break expectations away from you. I do not expect, nor do I wish for them to be as silly as The Residents, nor as chaotic as The Cardiacs, but I do want to see a little more meat and a little more bones in this work.

Songs like the title track and the big 14 minute song of Kramatorsk never really felt rewarding in their weird passages, and more sounded like background noise. It is a shame, I know, for me to call really good musicians creating generally good sounding music to be background noise, but I felt a lack of passion, or, a lack of interest within the sound they created on here. I really do wish I could like this album a lot more, but I cannot seem to fully get into it, or appreciate it.

Again, I do not wish to bash the band for making this album, but I do hope they improve as music creators and composers in their next release. They are clearly a strong bunch and hard workers as they released albums in 2020 and 2021, so I am intrigued on their next release. As it stands, though, this album is not really my cup of tea, and I feel like there are many things to improve on here. It is a unique listen, but not one I am dying to listen to over and over again."

(c) Dapper~Blueberries
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2869257

***

"The recent, fresh opus of the remarkable St. Petersburg musician Ivan Rozmainsky, with the Compassionizer project, pleases with an abundance of instruments and musical ideas from the first seconds. Is it possible to imagine an unified fusion of Gentle Giant, Henry Cow, Univers Zero and even Pink Floyd from the Meddle period? However, this is not just a fact - it is a reality revealed to the listener in the music of this unusual group. I think that the description of every separate composition is hardly a necessary exercise, because each track is a whole kaleidoscope of musical forms, but you can try to put some of them into words. For example, The Invasion of a Crying Shame is an amazing "avant-garde tango" that combines elements of jazz. Followed by Black Sky White - originates in Indian traditions, coupled with electronic meditations, wonderfully intertwined with percussion. I Need You to Help - sounds more traditional, and slightly sends us back to the worlds of early Yes & Genesis - to the best times of British art-rock, while being refracted by Andrey Stefinov's amazing wind harmonies. The title track Narrow is the Road is a pure visionary rebuke to the music of the early 20th century, correct me if I'm wrong. Something painfully from the Silver Age! It's so cool to hear references to it in prog rock. In fact, all of the above is a little that can be conveyed by listening to this wonderful album. The album is definitely for connoisseurs of music, even despite the prog-rock. The quality of performance is top notch. As I wrote in previous reviews - their music continues to grow stronger and improve, this album only confirms this formula!"

(c) Devolvator
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2872012

***

"On his third Compassionizer album, Russian musician Ivan Rozmainsky has taken a chance and truly gone off the deep end. Whereas the first two albums were accessible and pleasant listening experiences, Narrow Is the Road focuses on the chamber and acoustic side of Compassionizer, with occasional electronic and ethnic elements. The album features various instruments including not only synths and guitars but also bass clarinet, clarinet, trumpet, violin, flute, tbilat, doira, rubab, kalimba, vibraphone, marimba, etc. Unfortunately that is where my interest stopped. The compositions are something else, very difficult and challenging to approach, especially since the bass response has been de-emphasized. After the first one or two tracks, it became a chore to make it through to track 9. When I saw that track 8, “Kramatorsk,” lasted 14:32 minutes, I cringed and thought when is this torture going to end? Overall, Narrow Is the Road is self-indulgent and not at all sympathetic to the audience that has to listen to this nonsense, even with the slight Frippish moments at the end of “Kramatorsk.” So, if you enjoy listening to high frequency avant acoustic instrumental music with minimal variation from track to track, then you might find Narrow Is the Road of interest. Otherwise steer clear and explore the first two Compassionizer albums."

(с) Henry Schneider
expose.org/index.php/articles/display/compassionizer-narrow-is-the-road-6.html

***

"Un paso adelante en el camino avant-progresivo del ensamble ruso COMPASSIONIZER.

Tenemos hoy el placer de presentar el nuevo álbum del ensamble ruso de música progresiva ecléctica COMPASSIONIZER, el cual se titula “Narrow Is The Road” y fue publicado el pasado 21 de octubre, hace muy poco. Este proyecto tiene ya algunos años de existencia y está comandado por el músico y compositor Ivan Rozmainsky; en este disco, él se hace cargo de los teclados, los sintetizadores, la kalimba, el vibráfono y la marimba. ¿Nos suena su nombre de algo? Sí, de la banda ROZ VITALIS, fundada en el año 2001 en la localidad de San Petersburgo y cuyo disco debut del 2007 se titula precisamente “Compassionizer”. Ahora este nombre es retomado para nombrar a este colectivo que, al igual que ROZ VITALIS, practica un enfoque avant-progresivo con generosas presencias de elementos folk y ambient que se utilizan, alternadamente, para añadir colorido y densidad a los focos temáticos de cada composición. El ensamble de COMPASSIONIZER se completa con Leonid Perevalov [clarinetes bajo], Serghei Luincenco [guitarras eléctricas y acústicas, rubab, doira y otras percusiones, y flautines] y Andrey Stefinoff [clarinetes]. Todos ellos tuvieron algo que ver con la organización y la producción de las sesiones de grabación de este nuevo material. Algunas colaboraciones ocasionales provinieron de Bayun The Cat (sintetizador bajo, kalimba, tbilat y otras percusiones), Angelina Dortman (flauta), Dmitry Efimchuk (guitarra acústica), Antonina Pozdnyakova (violín) y Oleg Prilutsky (trompetas). Se trata del tercer álbum de COMPASSIONIZER, e incluye piezas inspiradas en poemas de Anastasia Prokhorenko y de Maria Leontieva. El grupo debutó en el año 2020 con el disco “Caress Of Compasion” y ahora tenemos en nuestras manos a “Narrow Is The Road”, un álbum conceptual que gira en torno a la idea de cuán importante es elegir el camino correcto y asumir las consecuencias de dicha elección, lo difícil que es encontrar esa senda de rectitud, la posibilidad de cometer graves errores mientras se está en ello y, a fin de cuentas, la relevancia que tiene ayudar a otros, lo cual puede llevarnos a algún tipo de certeza sobre lo que es correcto. Las ganancias monetarias obtenidas con la venta de este disco serán donadas a una familia de ucranianos emigrados a Hamburgo, Alemania. Bueno, vayamos ahora a los detalles de “Narrow Is The Road”.

Durando poco más de 7 ¼ minutos, ‘Only One Road For The Wayward’ abre el repertorio del álbum y lo hace con una ceremoniosidad que, inicialmente grisácea, pronto pasa a agitarse dentro de un bizarro dinamismo donde se cruzan los universos de ART BEARS y de UNIVERS ZERO, además de algunos elementos de fusión folclórica vanguardista metidos en el entramado sonoro con miras a darle una vivacidad deconstructiva. ‘The Invasion Of A Crying Shame’ sigue a continuación para elaborar un enfoque más caleidoscópico del bien afiatado esquema grupal bajo una atmósfera que oscila entre lo cinematográfico y lo surrealista. Es evidente que aquí resuena un mayor lirismo que en la pieza de entrada, aunque sin renunciar a la desafiante lógica deconstructiva. ‘Black Sky White’ desarrolla una capitalización de los cromatismos y tonalidades exhibidas en la pieza precedente, pero con un acento dramático y una tensión envolvente que ayuda bastante a darle un giro mágicamente extravagante a la maraña de los instrumentos utilizados, la mayoría de ellos, tradicionales. Tenemos aquí un encantador cénit del álbum que establece conexiones estilísticas con los paradigmas de bandas como UT GRET, ZAAL y STOP MOTION ORCHESTRA. Reincidiendo en la exploración de matices basados en instrumentos académicos y étnicos, ‘I Need You To Help’ funge como catalizador de la faceta más relajante de COMPASSIONIZER. No siendo particularmente vitalista per se, esta pieza gestiona cabalmente el esquema sónico que brota desde el núcleo central protagonizado por las maderas y las cuerdas. La quinta pieza del repertorio es la que justamente da título al álbum. Aquí, el ensamble regresa a los recursos de sobrio y misterioso lirismo que empaparon a los temas #2 y #3 mientras lo arropa bajo un aura crepuscular. ‘In Things Too High For Me’ dura más de 8 ½ minutos e instaura un nuevo cénit para el disco. Su ingeniería musical transita por varios parajes, desde lo delicado hasta lo tenso y muchos tintes intermedios. En lo referente a los pasajes más tensos, a veces nos acordamos de ISILDURS BANE en la época de las dos primeras partes de su múltiple concepto “Mind”. También advertimos que hay una majestuosidad persistente que opera abiertamente incluso en las estancias más evocadoras. La sección epilogar asume un talante agradablemente ensoñador.

‘Looking From The Dome’ tiende puentes entre el imponente preciosismo del tema inmediatamente precedente y el juguetón cromatismo que signó a la ilación de las piezas segunda a la cuarta. Los riffs de guitarra aportan una garra especial a la arquitectura global mientras la sección percusiva gesta unas síncopas y unos ornamentos que realzan cabalmente la esencia etérea de la composición. ‘Kramatorsk’ saca buen provecho a su espacio de 14 ½ minutos para instaurar el clímax definitivo del álbum. La estrategia creativa vertida en este tema se centra en retomar asuntos pendientes de ‘In Things Too High For Me’ y llevarlos por una senda de sombría magnificencia, lo cual se traduce en una densidad señorial y un espesor musical que muchas veces muestra sus fauces tenebrosas. Tenemos aquí una cruza entre la tradición de UNIVERS ZERO y los ART ZOYD de la etapa 1982-87 a través de un filtro elaborado en la fábrica de los legendarios RATIONAL DIET y una supervisión de ISILDURS BANE. Las diversas líneas dibujadas por las cuerdas y los vientos, que en varias ocasiones vienen acompañadas por retazos de guitarra, encarnan fehacientemente el tipo de vivacidad inquietante e inescrutable que marca al espíritu de esta pieza. A poco de pasada la frontera del décimo minuto, el ensamble se complace en perfilar un mecanicismo sonoro drásticamente deconstructivo cuya función es la de realzar profusamente el factor tenebroso que, de todas maneras, estuvo siempre presente. Todo aterriza en un epílogo reposadamente oscurantista que parece retratar la primera visión de la trágica debacle de algo. El cierre del repertorio llega de la mano de ‘Road’, la única pieza del repertorio que dura menos de 4 minutos. Centrándose en el piano con sus mesuradamente parcos fraseos que abren campo a las ulteriores florituras de maderas y cuerdas, este tema ofrece un breve momento de contraste frente a la maratón precedente, plasmando un paisaje musical bastante amable. Todo esto es lo que se nos ha brindado con “Narrow Is The Road” desde los cuarteles de COMPASSIONIZER, un ensamble que nos ha brindado una de las obras más notables emergidas de Europa del Este para el presente año 2022. Totalmente recomendable para los amantes del art-rock con un espíritu peculiarmente aventurero y los seguidores del género progresivo en general."

(c) Cesar Inca Mendoza Loyola
autopoietican.blogspot.com/2022/11/un-paso-adelante-en-el-camino-avant.html?fbclid=IwAR3ujxPzYo0LInncEDvhcBVUvvdzu1bvUumGhrX86VS6KAm7HwwElnY5PFk

***

"2001 gründete Ivan Rozmainsky aus St. Petersburg die Gruppe ROZ VITALIS, knapp 20 Jahre später, im Frühjahr 2020 sein neuestes Projekt COMPASSIONIZER. Ihm standen dabei Serghei Liucenco (Gitarren, Percussions) und Lyonka Perevalov (Bassklarinette) zur Seite, bei ihrem zweiten und neuesten, dem dritten Werk auch AndRey Stefinoff (Klarinette).

Unter dem Banner COMPASSIONIZER spielen sie eine instrumentale Musik, die weit vom gewöhnlichen Progressive Rock entfernt ist und sich im Experimental und Avantgarde Rock bewegt. ´Narrow Is The Road´ legt allerdings sein Hauptaugenmerk auf kammermusikalische Ansätze, da neben Gitarren und Synthesizern auch Bassklarinette, Klarinette, Trompete, Violine, Flöte, Tbilat, Doira, Rubab, Kalimba, Vibraphon und Marimba ins cineastische und atmosphärische Spiel eintauchen.

Mit ´Only One Road For The Wayward´ beginnt der Kammerrock auf dieser Scheibe aufzuwachen und bunter zu werden. Nachdem ´The Invasion Of A Crying Shame´ musikalische Elemente des Balkan integriert hat, nimmt ´Black Sky White´ auch indische auf. Dagegen träumt ein Song wie ´Need You To Help´ in psychedelischen und progressiven Rock Weiten der Siebzigerjahre und ein ´Narrow Is The Road´ in den Weiten des Kammerrock.

Thematisch lebt das Werk von der Hoffnung, im Leben den richtigen Weg einzuschlagen, oder bei einer falschen Wahl zumindest das Beste aus der jeweiligen Entscheidung zu machen. Dabei behält die Gruppe das zu bekämpfende Übel auf der ganzen Welt im Blick und empfiehlt, dem Guten in der direkten Umgebung auf die Beine zu helfen.

´In Things Too High For Me´ stellt sodann die Blasinstrumente in den Vordergrund, derweil ´Looking From The Dome´ besonders von den Percussions seine Vitalität erhält. Im vierzehnminütigen ´Kramatorsk´ treffen sogar Streicher und elektrische Gitarren auf Synthesizer. Doch das Ende der Straße beschließt ´Road´ mit seinem reichen Flötenspiel in aller Leichtigkeit.

Die falsche Road haben schließlich viele Menschen schnell einmal eingeschlagen. Soldaten, kommt zu euren Familien nach Hause, euer Weg endet sonst in einer Sackgasse, mag man daher momentan aufgrund des Krieges vor unserer Haustür und der auf der ganzen Welt all diesen Mitläufern nur zurufen zu wollen. Denn die Musiker des Projektes COMPASSIONIZER stammen aus Russland sowie Deutschland und sind wie alle anderen Menschen diesen wenigen Wahnsinnigen gnadenlos ausgeliefert, wenn sie nicht umgehend beginnen Nein zu sagen. Daher unterstützen COMPASSIONIZER obendrein mit dem Verkauf von ´Narrow Is The Road´ ukrainische Flüchtlingsfamilien in Hamburg.

(8 Punkte)"

(c) Michael Haifl
www.saitenkult.de/2023/01/30/compassionizer-narrow-is-the-road/

***

"In een poging om mijn jaarlijkse top tien te complementeren was ik eens gaan struinen op het internet, op zoek naar parels die we tot dusver mogelijk gemist hadden. Het is ook weer niet zo dat we bij elke release een waarschuwing van tevoren krijgen. Tot dusver had ik nog geen favoriet voor 2022, zoals ik dat in het jaar ervoor wel had met die simpele plakplaat van het Zwitserse Metamorphosis.

De hoes van “Narrow Is The Road” had meteen mijn aandacht te pakken. De bandnaam ‘Compassionizer’, afkomstig uit Rusland anno 2022, riep direct wel de nodige vraagtekens bij me op. Op de Bandcamppagina las ik echter dat alle opbrengsten gaan naar een Oekraïens gezin dat wordt opgevangen in Hamburg. Het gaat dus kennelijk niet om ‘foute muziek’. Daarnaast heeft de band de missie om bij te dragen aan kwaliteiten als empathie en compassie, zo valt op hun pagina te lezen.

Het brein achter deze groep is Ivan Rozmainsky, die ook binnen de avant-garde wereld bekend is van de groep Roz Vitalis. Zelf speelt hij toetsen en melodisch slagwerk (de instrumentengroep waarin onder andere de marimba valt). De hoofdmoot van de muziek bestaat echter uit een breed assortiment aan blaasinstrumenten en slagwerk. Daarnaast is er een bijzondere rol voor de elektrische en akoestische gitaar in sommige stukken en heeft bijvoorbeeld Kramatorsk ook een viool en een dwarsfluit in de mix. Al met al zal de geoefende luisteraar weten dat het hier gaat om moderne kamermuziek, een genre dat door bands als Henry Cow en Art Zoyd ooit onderdeel werd van de progressieve beweging.

Compassionizer voert een mix op van (symfonische) folk, modern klassiek en met vlagen zelfs avant-garde rock. Waar het kamermuziek genre nog wel eens chaotisch wil worden blijven de stukken op “Narrow Is The Road” vrij sterk geaard in emoties en muzikale vertellingen, al zijn de vernuftig in elkaar gezette notenbreiwerkjes ook hier en daar van de partij. Het hele album heeft een zekere melancholie, die bij mij inderdaad aanzet tot het doorvoelen van dingen die bij me spelen. Zo heeft The Invasion Of A Crying Shame een lading die de titel meer dan rechtvaardigt met zijn wrange, serieuze klanken die zeker een beroep lijken te doen op je geweten. I Need You To Help heeft dan weer een iets hoopvoller karakter, al behoudt de muziek zijn onvoorspelbaarheid en gaat daar toch enige dreiging vanuit.

Het album heeft ook duistere sferen, zoals bij het Henry Cow-achtige In Things To High For Me. In dit stuk zijn ook de bijzondere synthesizerklanken van Rozmainsky te horen. Het doet me ook wel een beetje denken aan dat bijzondere “Rock Bottom”-album van Robert Wyatt. In Looking From The Dome heeft de elektrische gitaar ook een centrale rol, met een prachtige vuige, doch melodische akkoordenpartij. Hét moment van de plaat is echter het hypnotiserende Kramatorsk met zijn King Crimson type riff, muzikaal getimede treingeluiden, statige blaaspartijen en roterende synths. Ook een fuzzy gitaar à la middenstuk Starless ontbreekt hier niet. Hier komen moderne kunstmuziek en pakkende progressive op een magische manier samen. Het nummer creëert een verlangen naar de eindeloosheid ervan en weet dat met zijn veertien minuten aardig in te willigen.

Dan vergeet ik in de aardigheid het prachtige openingsstuk Only One Road For The Wayward te noemen. Hier zet Compassionizer eigenlijk in een broeierige atmosfeer meteen de toon voor het album. De combinatie van drums, modern klassiek en avant-prog, maar zonder basgitaar of een andere vorm van onderlaag weet hier meteen al te verbazen. Ook in dit stuk stralen de synthesizers op het juiste moment.

“Narrow Is The Road” is het derde volledige album van Compassionizer en volgens liefhebbers voornamelijk gewoon weer een sterke toevoeging aan het eerdere werk. Ben je als trouwe symfojongen van plan eens een uitstapje te maken naar de avant-prog of de kamermuziek, dan lijkt dit puike album van Russische bodem me erg geschikt. Dan moet je het natuurlijk wel even zes keer doorstaan voordat je het écht begint te waarderen, maar al doende groeit men. Of niet, maar hoe dan ook, deze plaat heeft vanwege zijn sterke emotionele beladenheid een streepje voor op veel andere werken uit het genre. Voor mij is dit dan jaarlijstmateriaal, met name omdat het me écht fascineert en raakt, maar ook een beetje tegenwerkt. De muziek geeft zichzelf niet aan je cadeau, zogezegd. Je bent gewaarschuwd."

(c) Friso Woudstra
www.progwereld.org/recensie/compassionizer-narrow-is-the-road/

credits

released October 21, 2022

"Narrow is the Road” is the third full-length studio album by Compassionizer. This opus emphasizes the chamber and acoustic sides of Compassionizer, although both electronic and ethnic components still present! The album features various instruments including not only synths and guitars but also bass clarinet, clarinet, trumpet, violin, flute, tbilat, doira, rubab, kalimba, vibraphone, marimba, etc.
If you like non-trivial atmospheric and sophisticated hard-to-define instrumental music that "Narrow is the Road" can be your cup of tea!
This album is about the importance of choosing the right road and the consequences of such a choice, as well as the constraints associated with it. Some roads may be wrong and some consequences tragic. It is terrible when it seems that it is impossible to alleviate someone's suffering and stop obvious evil. However, if you try to help those who happen to be near you and try to think independently, there is hope that you will find the right road.

All revenues from sales will go to the financial support of one of the families of Ukrainian refugees living in Hamburg, Germany.

line-up

Serghei Liubcenco – electric and acoustic guitars, rubab, doira, other percussion and drums, whistles (3), recording
Leonid Perevalov – bass clarinets, recording
Ivan Rozmainsky – conception, Roland Juno D, Pribor Neofit, Arturia MiniBrute and other synths, kalimba, vibraphone, marimba (2), recording
AndRey Stefinoff – clarinets, recording

With thanks to:

Bayun The Cat – synth bass (4, 6), kalimba (6), tbilat and other percussion (6), recording (4, 6)
Angelina Dortman – flute
Dmitry Efimchuk – acoustic guitar (8)
Antonina Pozdnyakova - violin
Oleg Prilutsky – trumpets, recording

Anatoly Nikulin – mixing and mastering
Vyacheslav Potapov (VP) – artwork

Vladimir Ivanov – recording of flute
Strangollino Lolenzio – recording of acoustic guitar (8)

(1), (3), (9) were developed from Ivan Rozmainsky’s soundtracks to the poems of the same names written by Anastasia Prokhorenko
(7) was developed from Ivan Rozmainsky’s soundtrack to the poem of the same name written by Maria Leontieva
Special thanks to both poets for inspiration

Released by ArtBeat Music

BIG THANKS TO THE UNAPPROACHABLE LIGHT
irozmain@yandex.ru

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Compassionizer

Compassionizer - is experimental/chamber/avantprog project created by Ivan Rozmainsky of Roz Vitalis. Musicians focus on Melody and Atmosphere, but together with complex arrangements, unpredictable development of musical lines and odd time signatures. The essential goal of Compassionizer is to contribute to the development of such human qualities as sympathy, empathy and compassion. ... more

contact / help

Contact Compassionizer

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Compassionizer recommends:

If you like Compassionizer, you may also like: