Long time readers of Sea of Tranquility have no doubt seen reviews of numerous releases from Russian prog act Roz Vitalis, who are led by the talented keyboard player Ivan Rozmainsky. Psalm 6 is their latest EP release, a mini-concept album about 'spiritual quest and emotional upheaval of human being in a situation of strong stress', totaling up to about 33 minutes of atmospheric prog rock and jazz-fusion sounds. A few of the tracks are destined to eventually find themselves on the bands forthcoming full-length studio release, but for now this is a solid teaser of things to come. Joining the keyboard maestro are Alexey Gorshkov (trumpets and acoustic guitar), Ruslan Kirillov (bass guitar), Vladislav Korotkikh (flute), Vladimir Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (acoustic and electric guitars ), and Philip Semenov (drums ), along with special guests Leonid Perevalov (bass clarinet ) and Yury Khomonenko (percussion).
The opening title track starts off almost like a long lost Frank Zappa big band piece, before morphing into '70s styled prog rock permeated with Ivan's lush keyboard textures and some crunchy guitar riffs. The leader is again at the center of it all on the quirky "Trattamento 1", while his spacey synth, piano, and organ textures float over booming bass and yearning trumpet on the Pink Floyd meets Tangerine Dream of "The Prophet". Haunting organ, piano, synths, and what sounds like Mellotron saturate "Denial of Access", and the full band come out for the upbeat, symphonic prog & fusion track "Passing Over", the longest piece here at just over 7-minutes in length. The EP closes on a high note with "Trattamento 2", again, more of a vehicle for the leader and his vast array of keyboards, but supported by some nice flute as well. It will be interesting to hear the development of the band on their next studio album, as more often than not what you get here on Psalm 6 is Ivan Rozmainsky in fine form, but it leaves the rest of the line-up at times with little to do. Still, as far as keyboard dominated progressive rock goes, this is quite solid.
Track Listing
1.
Psalm 6 08:32
2.
Trattamento 1 03:35
3.
The Prophet 06:03
4.
Denial Of Access 03:43
5.
Passing Over 07:07
6.
Trattamento 2 04:16
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