From.uz - Quartus Artifactus (2011)

Si ya los conocés, no hace falta presentación. Pero si por alguna de esas casualidades aún no conocés esta banda, te recomiendo que te sientes para no caerte de culo. Seguimos con nuestro repertorio de discos y grupos geniales, y ellos no podían quedar afuera...

Artista: From.uz

Álbum: Quartus Artifactus
Año: 2011
Género: Rock progresivo
Duración: 100:05
Nacionalidad: Uzbekistán

Lista de Temas:
CD1
1. Stone Salad
2. Familiarization Results
3. Harry Heller Theater
4. Perfect Place
5. Parallels
CD2
1. Influence of Time
2. Crashmind
3. Desert Circle
4. Babylon Dreams

Alineación:
- Igor Elizov / keyboards, synths, MIDI, grand piano, voice
- Albert Khalmurzaev / keyboards, synths, 12string guitar,flute
- Vitaly Popeloff / acoustic steel & nylon guitars, voice
- Ali Izmailov / drums, percussion
- Sur'at Kasimov / fretless bass

En nuesro derrotero por el mundo musical hemos visitado varios lugares donde pocos se imaginaban que músicos tremendos podían hacer música para caerse de culo: desde el Reino de Bahrain, Hungría, Marruecos, quizás también la muscialmente notable Polonia (esto para algún desprevenido) además de nuestras ya habituales incursiones por las maravillas de nuestra latinoamérica. En esos viajes sonoros por el tiempo y el espacio ya hemos visitado a Uzbekistán, un pequeñísimo país, cuna de músicos tan notables como los integrantes de From.uz, un país que queda exactamente por acá, estudiendlo bien para los exámenes de la escuelita:

Ahora treamos el 4to álbum del grupo uzbeco (de aquí que les viene el nombre: "From UZ"—"From Uzbekistan"—"De Uzbekistán"). Es increíble cómo suena esta banda y cómo estos músicos de Uzbekistán son capaces de desenvolverse tan bien, simplemente hipnotizan por su calidad y maestría instrumental. Las composiciones son todas grupales y surgen de la experimentación, por lo que las pistas suenan algo así como un Liquid Tension Experiment, pero con mucho corazón. Es toda una experiencia escucharlos y, me imagino, debe ser mayor aún verlos.
Este ensamble nos muestra en "Quartus Artifactus" una selección de versiones nuevas de temas procedentes de sus discos anteriores ("Audio Diplomacy", "Overlook" y "Seventh Story"), con nuevos arreglos más acústicos pensados para la intervención de orquesta de cámara. El sonido de este nuevo disco muestra una faceta nueva, más amable del sonido FROM.UZ, pero reteniendo la intensidad inherente a las composiciones originales dentro de este nuevo empaque centrado en una concepción estilizada de la belleza.

Otro gran trabajo FROM.UZbekistán!!! Me gustan todas estas versiones, ninguna decae y hasta provoca escuchar todos sus discos en este formato semi-acústico.
Algunos comentarios en inglés y al disco. Ya con los videos me imagino que ya les agarró las ganas de acompañarme en mi viajecito por Uzbekistán...

In the band's own words, Quartus Artifactus is 'the best of From.uz in a progressive chamber style'. While certainly an interesting concept for a double album/DVD release on its own, the spectacular execution from the band makes this album much more than a cash-in remake of their older material. Quartus Artifactus takes a few listens to 'sink in' due to its massive playing time and overall complexity (especially if you're previously unfamiliar with the band, like I was), but it eventually reveals itself as a fantastic achievement for From.uz. Open-minded fusion and prog rock fans should take a look into getting this stunning observation from Uzbekistan's finest prog outfit!
On their 'normal' albums, From.uz plays a style heavy-edged jazz fusion/prog rock, but the music here is acoustic jazz/prog fusion. Though relentlessly complex and technically demanding, the atmosphere is generally light and upbeat. There are a few ominous sections, but most of the time I'm reminded of acts like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa, or Billy Cobham (around the Spectrum-era). The vast majority of the album is instrumental, but a few vocal sections help add some nice variation into the mix. Most of the songs here are extremely strong and filled with memorable riffs and inventive solos, but it does occasionally drag on a bit longer than necessary. Almost all of the songs here exceed the 9 minute mark, and the 100 minute playing time can make for a difficult listen in one sitting. A song like the 16-minute 'Desert Circle' could have easily been shortened by a few minutes. With that said, From.uz is certainly capable of creating masterful epics, seeing that the near 20-minute 'Parallels' is one of the finest jazz rock epics I've ever heard. Talk about some excellent riffs in that one!
One of the most intriguing parts about Quartus Artifactus is the spectacular musicianship across the board. There isn't a weak link in the whole band, and every member is fun to listen to individually or collectively as part of a full musical experience. Watching these guys play on the DVD included with the album is absolutely breathtaking! The production is also warm, organic, and professional. This is how all jazz/prog fusion should sound!
All in all, Quartus Artifactus is a spectacular double album from From.uz, and surely an essential purchase for those who enjoy acoustic jazz rock. Make no mistake; this is by no means a half-assed remake to capitalize on the success of the band's previous efforts. All fans of the band, as well as newcomers alike, are recommended to get this one as soon as possible. 4/5 stars are deserved for this great album. 10T Records is becoming one of the most consistent labels in the prog rock scene, and Quartus Artifactus is yet another winner in their catalog!

Jeff

'Quartus Artifactus' - Fromuz (7/10)
Although music has opened me up to other cultures and countries like nothing else, I cannot say I had yet heard a band from Uzbekistan before hearing Fromuz, a talented fusion rock quintet from Tashkent. With 'Quartus Artifactus', the band introduces themselves to me through a sprawling hundred minute exploration of guitar-based jazz fusion, and folkish instrumentation. If anything, Fromuz is a band with a great deal of skill and potential in their sound, as can be heard clearly with this, their third full-length album. Although much of this mostly instrumental album presents some very interesting ideas and even gets great chemistry going on in parts though, Fromuz could do with some editing in their sound. Make no mistake, 'Quartus Artifactus' is a long album- arguably too long for its own good- and had they condensed this hundred minute foray by cutting out the less necessary aspects of the music, I would have even more great things to say about the band's music.
Being from a part of the world that is steeped in folk music tradition, Fromuz takes alot of influence from their roots as people of Uzbekistan, and merges those local musical flavours with jazzy band chemistry and longform instrumental noodlings. With the exception of a short interlude song towards the beginning of 'Artifactus' called 'A Perfect Place', Fromuz is entirely instrumental here, and although the vocals at work there are nothing special, it can feel somewhat awkward to have an aspect of the band come and go within a percent of the record. Fromuz does have a tendency to take up interesting ideas and discard them before long, but while the band's use of ideas is not the greatest, the little musical concepts throughout 'Quartus Artifactus' keep the music engaging. The music generally flows through what largely sounds like a mix of improvisations and triggered cues, but having something like an Indian raga breakdown fall in the middle of a jazzy section is not usually expected.
If Fromuz has one thing going for them, its their abilities as musicians. Especially in terms of the adept guitar work, the band manages to fashion melodic and pleasant solos, merging them very nicely into the sometimes very complex rhythm section. Sadly, the production here- while clear-sounding enough- feels incredibly dry, and does not do well to convey the emotional intensity that the musicians quite clearly have with their music. It would be excellent to hear Fromuz edit and refine their sound somewhat, in order to capture the great things about them without having to make such a longwinded trip to get there. At a hundred minutes, 'Quartus Artifactus' can often feel as if it takes two or three times longer than it should to make a statement, but while not everything this album has to offer is a winner, there are enough excellent musical ideas to look into the record.

Conor Fynes

FROMUZ is perhaps the best known progressive rock band operating out of Uzbekistan, a country once a part of the Soviet Union that now has a substantial history as an independent nation. Fromuz was formed back in 2005, and since their debut effort "Audio Diplomacy" they have four full-fledged albums to their name, of which "Quartus Artifactus" is the most recent and most massive, I might add, as this production contains two CDs and a DVD.
This fourth artifact from the Uzbekistan act Fromuz takes the band full circle to some extent, as this production is made with the same approach as most of their other releases are: a live recording supplemented with a DVD documenting the concert itself. One might even suspect them of doing the same as a band like the Canadian act Rush, who have used live albums to mark the end of each of their musical eras. Be that as it may be, for fans in particular the alternative, semi-acoustic arrangements used on this album will be the most important reason to purchase and explore this triple package. Most songs work fairly well explored in this context, and some are revitalized and arguably better than the original ones. Like the three albums previously released by this band, "Quartus Artifactus" is a high-quality release, and one easily recommended to existing fans and newcomers alike, the latter in particular if they would like to explore an eclectic, hard to define band, operating within a fusion/symphonic/folk framework on this occasion.

Olav Martin Bjørnsen

Una sola reflección, que cantidad de música hermosa que anda suelta por el mundo, ¡y las porquerías que nos hacen escuchar por las radios!!!!
Otro discazo del blog cabezón ¡Y CLARO QUE LO RECOMENDAMOS!