indrek patte - in - 2023
“... the successor to Cinemanic ...”
intro
It's been a while since I wrote a review about the album "Cinemanic" by Indrek Patte, an Estonian musician, singer-songwriter, recording engineer and producer. That was in 2019 and now five years later the successor to that album has been released. The album is called "IN" and we find seven new compositions on this album. Indrek Patte is responsible for all music and lyrics.
Mathieu Spaeter – guitars; Vladislav Reinfeldt – bass guitar; Andrus Lillepea – drums, percussion; Priidik Soon – flute; Edward Soon – cello; Hendrik Soon – violin; Indrek Patte – vocals, keyboards, music arrangements
review
The album starts with the track "The Opening". It is immediately clear that this album does not have the cinematic character of its predecessor. The instrumental opener immediately hits the spot with wonderfully melodic neo prog that has a high symphonic quality. A wonderful opener with beautiful keys and guitar work. The key word here is melody. In short, a wonderful opener with a positive vibe. In the next song Indrek Patte himself provides the vocals. "Are You In" has more power in the uptempo parts, but guitarist Mathieu Spaeter once again comes with wonderfully melodic guitar parts. But at the end he also goes along wonderfully with the more uptempo tempos.
The song "Twisted Reality" is a bit slower in tempo and the music has more jazz and blues influences. This is mainly due to the keyboard sounds (organ, marimba). The guitar parts are also more rock oriented. The band continues full throttle with the uptempo "Restless" which becomes one of the highlights of this fine album. We also hear some more funky and jazzy influences in this song. And the rhythm section consisting of Vladislav Reinfeldt (bass) and Andrus Lillepea (drums) goes into it with full dedication. The progressive rock influences come to the fore in the keyboard strings and you even briefly hear the influences of Gentle Giant. The song is a mixture of progressive rock and jazz fusion.
"Walking With You" is sometimes a bit slower in tempo and has more melodic keyboard and guitar parts. But the jazz fusion influences are also clearly audible here. A nice track with varied guitar and keyboard parts. In the slow "Fragile" you hear beautiful flute work by Priidik Soon and melodic guitar work that reminds me of our own Dutch band Focus. The sometimes mesmerizing keyboard and flute parts also give the track a slightly cinematic character. Nice track!
The last track "Lord Of The Miracles" is a real epic of more than 15 minutes. The song has the necessary variation in tempo and melodies. Wonderful synth and guitar parts pass by. In addition to guitarist Mathieu Spaeter and keyboardist Indrek Patte, I would also like to compliment drummer Andrus Lillepea, who holds his own well on the entire album. Besides "The Opening", "Restless" and "Fragile", "The Lord Of Miracles" is one of my personal favorite songs from this fine album.
conclusion
After an album with a mainly cinematic character, Indrek Patte now releases a fresh album full of influences from neo-prog, prog-rock and jazz fusion. Don't want to compare bands with each other (because they both have their own character) but if you are charmed by the work of Antony Kalugin (Karfagen) then you might also appreciate the music of Indrek Patte. You can find them both on the Bandcamp platform. Just check it out for yourself.