Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Divje Jezero
Label: Celinka
Release: 2015
Length: 59:34
Rating: 5/5
Progressive rock forged on Slovenian soil is a genre you’re less likely to run into these days than you are to see a frog sprout feathers on its head. The Idrija natives in Divje jezero (named after a local natural landmark), who have been active since 2006, have finally, after almost eight years, pulled a studio debut together.
Eight years is a long time. And if you’re wading into the waters of progressive rock, there are usually no limits, otherwise you’re not a convincing »progger«. So the band kept growing and evolving, went through constant lineup churn, and gradually, from 2006 when they »innocently« operated as a duo, turned into a five-piece! In 2009, still as a trio, the group put out the demo “Divje jezero” and even then pointed to big, unconcealed creative talent. »Mestni vrvež« thus radiates remarkable maturity, the kind that comes with mileage and experience. It’s played (let’s be frank) in a thoroughly captivating way, from start to finish.
You can feel incredible fire on this album, incredible chemistry, incredible drive and commitment to squeeze the best out of themselves (right now). The band recorded a little under an hour of music, delivering 10 sweeping, wildly ambitiously arranged tracks that, with their escapades of virtuosity and unexpected twists, keep even the most demanding listener busy and rewarded.
Although in basic musical terms we can file Divje jezero under progressive rock, their music is so multifacetedly dynamic that this label alone is far too loose. The guys flirt with all sorts of genres. From world music (a Balkan passage in Nomad, a Latin one in Šnita kruha), to reggae bits inside Kapljica and Burkina Faso, there are blues elements (Šnita kruha) as well as jazz rock fusion (the opening Policijska patrulja). The track at position no. 5, Uvertura XIX, for instance, opens in its first 40 seconds like something that will most readily evoke the lineage of progressive rock on the North American continent along the Kansas – Dream Theater axis, while some passages later in the track are a reminder that the guys are Rush fans too (especially of the seventies era).
The songs are complexly built and carry an element of unexpected twists and turns, along with a feeling of spontaneity (even though everything is of course well studied). The band recently added a saxophone to its lineup, widening its sonic and stylistic palette even further. The weave of sound building blocks on the album is fascinating. Especially the chemistry and the sense of each other. The band keeps passing around all kinds of motifs, yet the songs never lose their red thread, because they’re seasoned with plenty of musical value. That said, you have to keep in mind that a feeling of fragmentation is of course present, since the songs are enormously varied motif-wise, so you’ll need a lot of time before the motifs stick in your head. Still, the music is woven into the arrangements incredibly fluidly and compactly, bathed 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 old-guard progressive rock acts of the seventies, like Yes, Camel, Genesis, or those that sprouted at the same time on the Italian boot The advantage of Divje jezero, though, is that you can’t pigeonhole them anywhere. They cultivate and develop an authorial voice all their own, which brings them uniqueness and recognizability. And we can say with a clear conscience that the album »Mestni vrvež« is the high point of 2015 for Slovenian rock releases.
In the rhythmic sense, too, Divje jezero are extremely strong. The songs feature plenty of changes in time signature, progressively fractured of course, and segments of the tracks are generously seasoned with percussion. With top-notch trading of solo passages between guitar, keyboards and saxophone, the rhythm section is maxed out the whole way through and breathes with full lungs, taking in air in a full-throttle, freewheeling kind of virtuosity. The guys never run out of red thread, and it’s the guitar that takes the initiative on the album, which makes sense, since the music is strictly instrumental. The guitar and keyboards try out a great many different sounds through the motifs across the album, which radiates not only the layered craftsmanship of the players, but also exceptional wit and sparkling inventiveness.
So there’s no shortage of praise. This is an outstanding album that, alongside Tolmin’s Feedback, delivers the much-needed progressive rock link in Slovenia between a new generation and the spirit and legacy 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 band keeps growing and developing at full speed in step with its studio debut. Divje jezero is a band from whom prog rock enthusiasts and all the other music gourmets can look forward to plenty more fascinating music in the future.
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
Production
Divje jezero
