Compassionizer: The Faithful of the Land

The Russian band Compassionizer, an offshoot of Roz Vitalis, released its fifth full-length studio album, The Faithful of the Land, last month. Compassionizer is led by Ivan Rozmainsky. He is joined by long-time Roz Vitalis co-members Serghei Liubcenco and Leonid Perevalov as well as AndRey Stefinoff and Sabina Vostner, and a host of guest musicians. I won’t try to list all the instruments played on the album because there has to be well more than a dozen from brass, keys, semi-obscure woodwinds, acoustic and electric guitars, to a large variety of percussion tools. There are vocals on this album, but they are relatively sparing, ethereal, basically wordless, and supplied by Vostner.

I suspect this will be a hit-or-miss album for most listeners, with few in between. It’s prog, no doubt about it, but very hard to classify. It’s certainly not classic symphonic prog. Nor is it folk prog or space rock or jazz fusion, though it has elements of all three of those genres at times. It’s almost the definition of “eclectic� or “avant� prog. I suppose some listeners might be interested to dip their toes in here or there, but to stay for the duration, it would help if you’re a fan of Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, and Present, or, to name a more familiar group, King Crimson during the Lizard and Islands period.

This album lacks some of the outstanding composition that defined its predecessor, The Fellowship of the Mystery, which made my Best of 2024 list. But I have found myself happy to simply let the album play out several times, always with enjoyment. It’s an easy four stars for me, though I could see some readers of SoT having little patience with it.

Track Listing
1. Blessed Is He That Considereth the Poor (10:07)
2. In Exchange for His Soul (Part 1) (9:19)
3. My Joy and Crown (3:38)
4. Some That Trouble You (7:03)
5. In Exchange for His Soul (Part 2) (3:11)
6. Deep Calleth unto Deep at the Noise of Thy Waterspouts (7:41)
7. The Faithful of the Land (11:21)

Added: October 21st 2026
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Artist's bandcamp
Hits: 20
Language: english

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