Record Reviews

LIZARD ~ MASTER & M (REMASTERED) AUDIO CAVE 2019/014 (Barcode: 5905669566896) ~ POLAND ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2012 - 2013 Released: 2019 This is a reissue of the fifth studio album by the Polish Prog group LizardFind albums by this artist, released originally in 2013. The band is led by the charismatic vocalist / guitarist / songwriter Damian BydlinskiFind albums by this artist, who composed all the music and wrote all the lyrics (in Polish), and includes also bassist Janusz TanistraFind albums by this artist, guitarist Daniel KurtykaFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Pawel FabrowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Aleksander SzalajkoFind albums by this artist. The album presents just one concept suite, divided into five "chapters" loosely based on the influential Mikhail BulgakovFind albums by this artist´s novel "The Master and Margarita". This edition was newly remastered and adds one bonus track recorded live in 2015 during the bands 25th Anniversary celebration concert, which features drummer Mariusz SzulakowskiFind albums by this artist, who replaced Szalajko. The music is everything a Neo-Prog enthusiast dares to expect, including lush melodic themes, strong heavy riffs, lengthy instrumental improvisations and theatrical vocals – in short heaven on Prog earth. Everything works perfectly with no margin for error, with the instrumental parts perfectly stitched together and the vocals leading the proceedings being expressive enough to easily cross any language barriers, meaning that Prog lovers not speaking Polish can still fully enjoy the music as well. Like all Neo-Prog albums the music gets a bit repetitious in time, which is great if one enters the trans like state of mind that many Prog albums require in order to fully enjoy the music, but is luckily dynamic enough to keep the listener awake, in spite of the fact that rhythmically the music is completely uniform. But the instrumental performances and the vocal parts are all as good as one might expect within the genre´s limitations and overall the album is really great fun to listen to. With the vastly improved sound quality and clarity of the remaster, this is definitely worth investigating, especially in view of the fact that Prog sadly is a dying species these days.

Updated: 21/09/2021Posted: 17/01/2020

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend