Kajoshin: Chrisalys

Chrisalys is the 3rd studio album by Italian prog rock band Kajoshin, and the first since 2015 when they released their sophomore, Eternal Sunshine. The band is comprised of main composer and leader Claudio Russo on guitars and lead vocals, Eros Pipinato on bass, Elena Pavanello on vocals, and Alberto Pigazzi on drums and backing vocals. As a curiosity, three out of the four members are listed as vocalists in some manner, but the album is around 65% instrumental…

“The Gate� opens the album in a groovy and catchy mood, with a funky and captivating guitar dialogue that adds freshness to the positive sounding rock. “Fighting’� kicks off heavy, with a grungy approach to prog rock, not bad at all… not convinced by the vocals here though, the rest I really like. “I Don’t Know� and “Closure� don’t necessarily sound similar, but they do share the evident Porcupine Tree influence… in the aforementioned we find the soft side of that influence, both in the vocals (which are thankfully corrected in the first song) and in the rhythmic section; and in the latter with the psychedelic atmospheric instrumentation that usually results in deeper and darker melodies, with a cool musical crescendo towards the end. Now let’s add a little Tool to the mix and we get “We Don’t Fear - Part I�, cool intermezzo song with good rhythm and instrumentation, but dull and too repetitive on the lyrical content, I would have preferred a little more color perhaps… then we find another pair of tracks that also go together for the same reason as before, but this time the source of influence is late 70’s early 80’s Pink Floyd. The title track “Chrysalis� almost sounds like and extract from The Wall and “An End is a New Start� from Dark Side of the Moon, both songs with their unique Kajoshin touch and vibe, but without trying to hide their musical preferences and influences…one of my favorites of the album, great guitar solo, hypnotic and memorable.

“We Don’t Fear - Part II� is a mellow and exquisite sounding song and I particularly love the guitar work, at first kind of shallow but dragging me deeper into the heartfelt (and oddly beauty) ending. “Implosion� is unique, fat bass rhythmically looping alongside the tight jazzy drumming, with all the different guitar layers and details, it resembles to me like a soundtrack for a spy-themed movie, kind of James Bond from the seventies, if that makes any sense…is the longest track on the record and one of the best. To close the short but sweet 45 minutes journey there’s “Natural Life�, soft and emotional, featuring the male-female vocals and more great guitar work… Mr. Russo is a tasty guitar player, no doubt. Not an album that will compete with the top albums of the year, but a very enjoyable listen and addition to their catalog. Cheers.

Track Listing:

1. The Gate (4:46)
2. Fightin’ (3:04)
3. I Don’t Know (4:24)
4. Closure (6:03)
5. We Don’t Fear �" Part I (3:40)
6. Chrisalys (3:37)
7. An End is a New Start (4:39)
8. We Don’t Fear �" Part II (3:39)
9. Implosion (7:06)
10. Natural Life (3:49)

Added: November 3rd 2022
Reviewer: Jose Antonio Marmol
Score:
Related Link: More Information
Hits: 433
Language: english

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