retreat from moscow - the world as we knew it - 2021
“... better late than never ...”
intro
I had to think of our own Dutch prog band I Spy when I read the story of the British Retreat From Moscow. The story is slightly different, but still. A band from Cardiff, Wales in the UK that performed regularly on stage from 1979 to 1981. And after 40 years they reunite and record old and new material for their debut album. That album "The Worlds As We Knew It" was released in the year 2021 on the Gravity Dream Music label of Cosmograf man Robin Armstrong. Yes, I said it was, because a successor has already been released under the name "Dreams, Myths and Machine". But that new album also deserves its own progVisions review. We'll focus on the album "The World As We Knew It" first.
Andrew Raymond - keyboards, guitars, backing vocals; John Harris - vocals, guitars, flute, keyboards; Greg Haver - drums, percussion, synth, backing vocals; Tony Lewis - Wal basses, Moog Taurus pedals, back vocals
review
“The World As We Knew It” opens strong with the song “The Ones You Left Behind.” It opens with striking polyphonic vocal harmonies that remind me slightly of bands like Lifesigns and It Bites. Don't want to make comparisons, but the music is infused with Neo Prog influences from the 80s. A strong opener with sometimes a driving rhythm section and layers full of electric guitar and keyboards, before moving into an end section with acoustic guitars and delicate vocal lines. The vocals are well taken care of throughout the album. "Radiation" is one of the short songs on this album. It is an uptempo track with more rock influences and the guitar work sometimes reminded me of the band Rush. The next song "Radiation" has a bit more variation because the uptempo rock parts are alternated with vocal parts that have more melody. Halfway through there is a beautiful instrumental section with plucking guitars and a spacey guitar melody supported by quiet keyboard orchestrations. Towards the end you can enjoy a nice synth solo. The band really goes wild with the track "I'm Alive". Wonderful Hammond and keyboard parts that give me a kind of ELP meets Camel feeling. This flows into a nice synth solo before the vocals are added. The track has the necessary variation in rhythm and instrumentation that a good prog song needs. At the end that nice mix of keyboards returns. "Constantinople" opens quietly with a strumming guitar and delicate vocals that alternate with beautiful flute melodies. Later a beautiful and delicate electric guitar solo follows before full keyboard layers give the song some more power and the guitarist can let loose with some more spacious sounding guitar parts.
Then it's time for the longest song on this fine album. "Home", with its duration of almost twelve minutes, could perhaps be called the epic of this album. Just like the opener, this song has beautiful polyphonic vocal harmonies that remind me of the band Lifesigns (take this as a compliment). Musically speaking, for me this is the highlight of this debut album. Strong instrumental parts with beautiful keyboard work and a tension that slowly increases before the music transitions seamlessly into the next section. A section with classic keyboard orchestrations, beautiful melody lines, strong vocals and a wonderfully melodic guitar solo. The uptempo "Armed Combat" has nice guitar solos, a driving rhythm section and beautiful vocals. In the last part you can again enjoy fine vocal harmonies and beautiful guitar work. The quiet "Moving Down" is another highlight of this album. It has a beautiful and delicate instrumentation and beautiful vocal parts. In the last part we are treated to a beautiful melodic guitar solo. A particularly beautiful and strong song.
The next "Perception" is an uptempo song with more rock influences. But the next song "Mandragora" is more interesting for prog and neo prog fans. It opens with uptempo synth and flute melodies. The guitar will be added later. This is followed by a tempo change and the music takes on a more calm and Floydian character. In the last part the tempo increases again, but it remains melodic. The music then has more in common with the music of Camel than with that of Pink Floyd. The album ends with the beautiful song "Don't Look Back". Another song with beautiful vocal melodies, beautiful flute work and fine keyboards and guitar parts. The song ends with nice synth and guitar solos. A worthy end to a convincing debut album.
conclusion
We can be happy that Retreat From Moscow, the Welsh band, has finally decided to get back together and record their old and new songs for their debut album "The World As We Knew It". It has become a mature album with music that will certainly please us fans of progressive and neo-progressive rock. And I can already tell you that the band has continued to develop in a positive way and has already released a worthy successor ("Dreams, Myths And Machines"). But that's a story for another Retreat From Moscow review. Our thanks also go to the man behind the Cosmograf project, Robin Armstrong who gave the band the opportunity to release its albums on his own Gravity Dream Music label.