Karfagen have worked pretty quickly to put together The Space Between Us, their follow-up to 2006's Continium. Led by Ukrainian keyboard player Antony Kalugin, the band picks up exactly where they left off on the previous CD, offering up 16 tracks of mostly instrumental progressive rock and jazz that will remind you of Camel's lighter fare mixed with some modern fusion. At the forefront always are the tasty keyboard textures and melodies from Kalugin, who utilizes various synths and piano to great effect. There are a few guitar players who contribute to the CD, offering a wide variety of styles, like the almost metallic riffs of "The Other Side", or the smooth George Benson-ish lines heard on "Temple of Light". Kalugin is really a talented player, but you can best appreciate his keyboard skills on a track like "Labyrinth", a real symphonic number that hits all the right proggy buttons. The problem is there's just too many songs and too much material here, leaving the listener with a bit of filler to wade through. Let's hear more of the rollicking Gryphon meets Gentle Giant "Kingfisher and Dragonflies", or the FLower Kings vibe of "Retrofall", and less of bland songs like "Mind Games", "Sky of Couple Colors", and "When the Night Falls".
As you can guess, there's some good material here, but also some pieces that just don't cut the mustard. Still, The Space Between Us is worth hearing for those strong pieces-just be prepared to skip around a bit to get to them.
Track Listing
- Entering the Gate
- The Great Circus
- Temple of Light
- The Other Side
- Sky of COuple Colors
- Masks and Illusions
- The Dream Master
- Through a Stream of Images(Prestissimo)
- The Sculptor
- Labyrinth
- Let Go
- Wonder Valleys
- Kingfisher and Dragonflies
- Retrofall
- Mind Games
- The Space Between Us
- When the Night Falls
- Big Outro
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