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Reviews

Compassionizer — Narrow Is the Road
(Bandcamp no#, 2023, DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2023-04-02

Narrow Is the Road Cover art

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.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Roz Vitalis / Compassionizer

More info
http://compassionizer.bandcamp.com/album/narrow-is-the-road

 

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