Karcius
Kaleidoscope

Karcius is a Canadian band with two albums to their name. The debut "Sphere" dates back to 2004 and, two years later, this "Kaleidoscope" confirms the good and interesting things the band has to offer. The style is modern, and the compositional and performative technique is mouth-watering. We are in the presence of a noteworthy CD that features Crossover Prog, furiously yet coherently hopping from aggressive, syncopated Jazz-Rock to the more relaxed listening of fusion and grand keyboard arrangements closer to symphonic prog. The resulting texture is extremely personal, and the complexity of the compositions makes everything flow in a very intriguing manner.

"Kaleidoscope" is composed of 8 tracks, but three of them "Hypothèse A", "Hypothèse B" and "Hypothèse C" can be considered as a single piece that exceeds 25 minutes in length. This certainly remains the most interesting movement of the work due to the overall musicality and the impressive orchestration and variability of the choices. Choices that echo the great masters of the genre: for instance, many of the guitar parts by the excellent Simon L'Espérance owe much to the immense Frank Zappa, but also to more modern authors such as Steve Vai or Frank Gambale. There are also numerous more Crimson-like moments made brilliant by the precise guitar evolutions. The performance of keyboardist Mingan Sauriol is also very good, excelling in solo moments reminiscent of Chick Corea from the Electric Band. A notable mention goes to the rhythm section with Dominique Blouin on bass and Thomas Brodeur on drums, who are remarkable in navigating continuous odd times that often change more than once within the individual tracks, as in "Maintenant".

I recommend purchasing this album without hesitation, not only to those who loved the first work but to all lovers of prog and fusion.