Short Reviews [Compassionizer - 2023 - "As Smoke Is Driven Away"]

Earlier this year Compassionizer returned with a single lengthy track, more than 20 minutes in length, which they released free of charge as an EP. It is the same core quartet as with the previous album, but this time we have a viola player as a guest in the form of Lyudmila Poletaeva. Again we are firmly in the world of modern classical combining with RIO, but there are also times when percussion provides a strong focal point. Although there are only five musicians this time around, both Ivan and Serghei are multi-instrumentalists who bring many different styles and textures to the arrangement. There is far more space within this recording, with the clarinets almost plaintive and calling at times, allowing the listener to be fully immersed in what is taking place. This never feels like a collection of different songs cobbled together, which is sometimes the case with longer numbers, but instead always feel as if the music is following a logical progression even if the listener is unsure what that actually is. This is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of work and a wonderful introduction to the band and what they are trying to achieve, so given it is available free of charge why not jump over to Bandcamp and give them a listen for yourself?