Yugen
Death By Water

New highly anticipated work for the Yugen project by Francesco Zago: the new album, entitled "Death By Water", follows the excellent debut "Labirinto d’acqua" (2006) and "Iridule" (2010). Let's say right away that, even with "Death By Water", Yugen proves to be one of the best entities in the global prog scene: certainly their music is not easy to digest and is the offspring of legendary European progressive rock music experiences like Henry Cow and the RIO movement. The influence of King Crimson is also evident, but everything is reworked in a personal and absolutely non-formulaic manner. Despite the listening being sometimes difficult, the great merit, in my opinion, is that the music still manages to remain accessible and make sense, something that is not always obvious when discussing avant-garde. Yugen's aim is to renew the rock language by incorporating elements of cultured music, a trademark of Chris Cutler, the charismatic drummer of Henry Cow. The first track "Cinically Correct" is explosive with its continuous relentless rhythm changes: the settings are at times frenetic but leave room for more subdued moments: remarkable is the vocal "performance" of Dalila Kayris in Japanese! Truly a beginning in pure Yugen style where the ensemble sounds like a true "orchestra" where the interplay between all the instruments, from winds, keyboards, guitars to percussion is perfect. The title track is one of the strong pieces of "Death By Water", very calm and atmospheric, supported by an effective percussion work. In the short "Ten Years After" we are attacked by "Crimsonian" guitars at full power while the following "As It Was" is characterized by the piano of Paolo "Ske" Botta and the voice of Elaine DI Falco. The long "As A Matter Of Breath" leads us in the first part into typically avant-prog territories with moments of pure avant-garde: in the second, the atmospheres are almost gloomy with sinister ambient noises in the background. "Der Schnee" is another very interesting moment where the voice of Dalila Kayros supported by the piano and the winds stands out. The album closes with "A House", a gentle track with acoustic guitars and vocal sighs in prominence. "Death By Water" is another small masterpiece in Yugen's artistic journey and an essential work for those who are into prog.