Compassionizer: The Fellowship of the Mystery

Compassionizer started out as an offshoot of the fellow Russian band Roz Vitalis. Both groups are headed by Ivan Rozmainsky. His partners in Compassionizer from the start have been Serghei Liubcenco and Leonid Perevalov, who have appeared on all four studio albums, the first being released in 2020. They have been joined by a group of uber-talented musicians on every record, who together play more instruments than one could reasonably imagine a band employing. Their latest release, The Fellowship of the Mystery, is stunning.

Compassionizer’s music is hard to describe in general, and that may be particularly true on this latest effort. I would call it something like baroque, chamber prog with symphonic elements here and there. The music is completely instrumental, minus some fleeting wordless female vocals on “To Direct Your Hearts into the Love,� and the tracks flow into one another almost seamlessly until you get to the penultimate track, “For the Invisible Things.� That’s where, to my ears, the symphonic bits come most to the forefront. It is followed by the epic of the album, the title track, which clocks in at almost 22 minutes. All six tunes before now have been in the four- to five-minute range. I have listened to the album many times since it was first released in late September. At first, I thought the closer was the weak link. No longer. Its parts fit together much more satisfyingly than I previously thought.

This album won’t be for all prog fans, but if you’re into Gentle Giant, Gryphon, mid-70s Horslips, Jethro Tull (especially A Passion Play), and the largely unknown but brilliant Ut Gret, and you don’t require vocals in your music, then give this a shot. You might not be as enthusiastic as I am, but I’m confident you won’t regret it.

Track Listing
1. To Abound and to Suffer Need (5:16)
2. Avenge Not Yourselves (4:11)
3. To Direct Your Hearts into the Love (5:04)
4. I Feel Shine of the Day (4:05)
5. For Them Who Shall Be Heirs of Salvation (5:01)
6. For the Invisible Things (4:21)
7. The Fellowship of the Mystery (21:44)

Added: January 3rd 2025
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 192
Language: english

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