Label: Celinka
Year of release: 2015
Production: Divje jezero
Album length: 58.34 min
Genre: Progressive Rock / Jazz Rock Fusion
Rating: 10/10
Progressive rock made in Slovenia is a genre you’re about as likely to run into today as a frog is to grow feathers on its head. The Idrija natives in Divje jezero (named after a local natural landmark), active since 2006, have finally, after almost eight years together, pulled a studio debut together.
Eight years is a long time. And if you wade into the waters of progressive rock, there are usually no limits, otherwise you’re not a convincing “prog head.” So the band kept growing and evolving, going through constant lineup expansion, until it slowly turned from a duo that “innocently” got going in 2006 into a five-piece! In 2009, the group, still a trio at the time, released the demo “Divje jezero” and already then pointed to huge and unmistakable creative talent. “Mestni vrvež” radiates a remarkable maturity, the kind that comes with mileage and experience. It’s played (and let’s be straight about it) in a thoroughly thrilling way.
You can feel an extraordinary fire on the album, extraordinary chemistry, extraordinary drive and commitment to squeeze the best the band can do (right now) out of themselves. The band recorded just under an hour of music and delivered 10 sweeping, wildly ambitiously arranged tracks that, with their virtuoso escapades and unexpected turns, keep even the most demanding listener busy and rewarded.
Even though, in basic musical terms, we can file Divje jezero under progressive rock, their music is so multifaceted and varied that this label alone is far too loose. The guys flirt with all kinds of genres. From world music (a Balkan passage in Nomad, a Latin one in Šnita kruha) to reggae inserts within the tracks Kapljica and Burkina Faso, there are elements of blues (Šnita kruha) as well as jazz rock fusion (the opening Policijska patrulja). The track at position no. 5, titled Uvertura XIX, opens for its first 40 seconds as something that the sharpest ears will associate with the lineage of progressive rock on the North American continent, on the Kansas – Dream Theater axis, while some passages later in the track remind you that the guys are also fans of Rush (especially from the seventies).
The songs are complexly built and carry an element of unexpected twists, as well as a feeling of spontaneity (even though it’s all of course carefully worked out). The band recently added a saxophone to its lineup, expanding its sonic and stylistic palette even further. The interweaving of sound building blocks on the album is fascinating. Especially the chemistry and the sense of each other. The band keeps passing diverse motifs around, yet the songs never lose their red thread, since they’re packed with plenty of musicality. It should be kept in mind that a feeling of fragmentation is of course there, since the songs are incredibly lively in terms of motifs, so you’ll need a lot of time before the motifs stick in your head. But the music is woven into the arrangements with incredible fluidity and compactness, in the glow of great mutual motif compatibility, or symbiosis. Hence the mention of the album’s high musicality. In other words, its general accessibility (even for less demanding listeners). The same goes for some of the old-guard progressive rock bands of the seventies, such as Yes, Camel, Genesis, or those that sprang up at the same time on the Italian peninsula The strength of Divje jezero, though, is that you can’t pigeonhole them anywhere. They cultivate and develop an authorial voice all their own, which gives them uniqueness and recognizability. And we can safely declare the album “Mestni vrvež” the standout of 2015 among Slovenian rock releases.
Divje jezero are also exceptionally strong in the rhythmic department. The songs feature multiple changes of time signature, progressively broken up of course, and segments of the tracks are generously seasoned with percussion. While the guitar, keyboards, and saxophone trade top-notch solo passages, the rhythm section is maxed out throughout and breathes with full lungs, drawing in air for a fully free-spirited virtuosity. The guys never run out of red thread, and the guitar takes the initiative on the album, which makes sense, since the music is strictly instrumental. The guitar and keyboards try out many different sounds through the motifs across the album, which radiates not only the layered design of their players, but also remarkable wit and sparkling inventiveness.
So there’s no shortage of praise. This is an outstanding album that, alongside Feedback from Tolmin, delivers a badly needed progressive rock link on the Slovenian scene between the new generation and the look and spirit of the seventies bands (Izvir, Predmestje, September, Jutro). Let’s hope the fire and heart that fill the album “Mestni vrvež” never fade, and that the group keeps growing and developing at full steam, in harmony with their studio debut. Divje jezero is a band from which progressive rock enthusiasts and all other music gourmets can expect plenty more wildly fascinating music in the future.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Policijska Patrulja
2. Skrivnost
3. Mestni Vrvež
4. Zlobne Gobe
5. Uvertura XIX
6. Kapljice
7. Po Dežju
8. Nomad
9. Šnita Kruha
10. Burkina Faso
Lineup:
Alen Bogataj – bass guitar
Luka Čibej – drums, percussion
Aleš Golja – guitar
David Križaj – keyboards, accordion
Tomi Peljhan – saxophone
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Ana Bogataj – flute on track no. 2
