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Kinetic Element — Chasing the Lesser Light
(Bandcamp Melodic Revolution, 2023, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-09-30

Chasing the Lesser Light Cover art

When I reviewed Kinetic Element’s previous release, The Face of Life (2019), I remarked that I was glad the album was only LP length, finding it to be just the right amount of their brand of progressive rock to not overstay its welcome. Chasing the Lesser Light comes in at 62 minutes in length, almost as if the band wanted to test my limits. Of course, I think it’s highly unlikely the band would have been considering my words in any way, but the result is the same: I get to see if I can still enjoy Kinetic Element after an hour of their music. Chasing is a concept album centered on the human race’s history of space exploration, from the early days through to planned future missions. As such, there are a lot of dramatic lyrics about small steps and giant leaps, and for the most part, I find I’m better off paying as little attention to the words as I can manage. Musically, the band operates in the general area of mid-70s Yes with touches of Rush. You’ll hear classic keyboard sounds like electric piano and Mellotron, some up-front Squire-like bass, and epic-length multipart suites, so many fans of progressive rock will surely enjoy the album. The musicians are deadly serious about what they’re doing, without any touches of irony or humor, and I can’t fault their musicianship. In short, the answer to my concern is clearly that I cannot actually enjoy a full hour of Kinetic Element’s music, at least not this hour.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Kinetic Element

More info
http://kineticelement.bandcamp.com/album/chasing-the-lesser-light

 

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