Issue 2026-014

Lost World Band — In The Empty Town

Greg Cummins

Lost World Band — Remission

Greg Cummins

I was intrigued to see 3 albums from a rather obscure Russian affair called Lost World Band that were recently uploaded to our pipeline. As someone who had previously obtained a few of their main releases, Trajectories (2001), Awakening Of The Elements (2005), Of Things & Beings (2016), and Spheres Aligned from 2019, naturally I offered to review the whole three, more or less as a triad of albums. Bear in mind these albums don't form any part of an official trilogy, but the music's resurfacing many years later has occurred, as the band are currently not actively performing at the moment.

This has allowed for the older recordings, (previously available on CDR) in the 1990s, to be re-recorded with English vocals and using more modern recording techniques. The band's additional notes imply that although these albums are softer and more mellow compared to what they play now, the author hopes they are coherent enough to be considered a decent slab of art-rock from the post-Soviet era.

The original band consists of Vassili Soloviev (flute), Andy Didorenko (violin, guitar, bass, backing vocals, harmonica, percussion), and Alexander Akimov (keyboards). Brian Paley contributes vocals and as I imagine he is English, it's no wonder the vocals sound so convincing. The band are also accompanied by a number of other, lesser known musicians who provide drums, trumpet, sax, piano and backing female vocals.

One of the immediate things I have noticed about some of the more aggressive tracks on these three recordings is that they are built around a large degree of frenetic dissonance in much the same way that King Crimson's Thrak did. That was one album that I admittedly couldn't stand and left it on the shelf after only one play. This is the first and only time I have done that as I normally allow for much longer and more considered listening periods before I decide one way or another on an album's likely tenure in my collection.

I still have the album and may get back to it in time but I'm not in any hurry to do so as I have so many other more compelling albums to listen to first. Having said that, let's not ignore the beauty and serenity one can derive from the other more melodic pieces on offer.

Turning to these three albums, they certainly do possess some clever ideas here and there and have certainly been enhanced by having been sung in excellent English. The albums are all quite diverse with some tracks forming a more melodic and accessible structure while others follow the more frenetic route which is heavily reinforced by some acerbic guitar flourishes on a regular basis. This may or may not suit every listener as I found the more aggressive tracks overwhelmed the softer pieces to a fairly large degree which left some of the albums a little unbalanced.

The Dawn

This albums opens with So Close To Sunlight and is a gentle piece that caresses the ears in a way that feels just right. Cogs Of Memory tells a different story and begins with a flurry of keyboard gymnastics and having a firmer foot in the jazz fusion category is a great track to rev things up a little. Train To Paradise is accompanied by some sax and it is on this track that I am hearing some slight King Crimson influence by way of the Red album. The Flight Of The Metal Bumblebee is a very busy affair and follows along like its namesake using guitar, fast drumming and a thundering riff that would not feel out of place on a 70's heavy rock album. Angular guitar gives the song a lot of bite.

Forevermore is another softer song and offers a little more brooding keyboard background to enhance the sound. Nice mellotron sounds - (probably sampled).

Pterodactyl Hunt is full of very angular and dissonant guitar and along with some complex time signatures and arrangements, will keep you on your toes. Things settle down with Let It Pass being another vocal track while Paganini Blues features some great provocative violin somewhat reminiscent of Vanessa Mae's excellent song called Contradenza. This track was over way too soon. The album closes with the title track and features some tasty flute, pleasant vocals, wistful sax and and a gentler theme than some of the other more upbeat tracks.

In the Empty Town (Remastered)

See The City opens proceedings with a bit of fanfare and features some bouncy and likeable vocals, underpinned by some slightly complex arrangements, but this is nothing too hard to digest. Great instrumental accompaniment helps to create some tension. Escape & Run has a slightly Gentle Giant vibe to its beginning but the vocals evolve slowly to form more of a traditional lyrical sound such as you might find on a 10cc or dare I say it, an A.C.T. album.

Trick Of The Light and Unbounded both feature tasty violin as an accompaniment to the ivories and provide a nice melodic break. Angel allows Phoebe Carter to showcase her angelic vocals while Mist explores some gentle acoustic guitar passages, albeit in a very condensed form, occupying less than 2 minutes on the mixing tape. In the Empty Town feels like Lost World's most atmospheric statement and is representative of a song that is built less on momentum and more on presence. As Darkness Falls changes gear quite dramatically and features some angular guitar with plenty of venom.

The same reference to King Crimson's complexity could also be acknowledged here. Galloping Past does exactly as its title would suggest and despite a slowish beginning, it quickly evolves into a more exploratory piece accompanied by some frenetic violin and choral vocal breaks here and there. A short interlude of some honky tonk piano would almost suggest Dixie Dregs were about to join in for a hoe down but that never quite eventuated. The album closes with one of the band's more adventurous songs, vocally as we are treated to some quasi soprano singing from the guys while Phoebe provides her best efforts for the whole project.

Musically, the album occupies a reflective corner of progressive rock, drawing on modal harmony, slow thematic development and layered textures rather than overt virtuosity. Yes, there are definitely moments where the band fire up the reactor a little but they could never be accused of going nuclear on this outing. This is predominantly a melodic and mellifluous series of songs with only a handful of more energetic tracks to break up the calm.

Remission

This latest offering from the band is accompanied by a short liner note which states: "Remission — a period when the signs and symptoms of a disease improve or disappear".

The album obviously references a period of solitude for one unlucky punter with the opening song offering an almost visual perspective of what transpires just as one is falling asleep. The song is quite well done and with telling lyrics and a pleasant melody, it opens the album in perfect style. The main title song however, being fully instrumental continues the bands predelction for including very acidic and biting lead guitar flourishes and themes that may or may not please everyone, I found these sections a little wanting to be honest but your mileage may vary.

Lullaby Part 1 begins with soft organ overtaken by plaintive piano and Phoebe's vocals but is structurally deficient in the melody department. Lullaby Part 2 is anything but a lullaby and is full of dissonance or discordant sections along with some clever riffage that almost moves into a vaudevillian manoeuvre about half way through. Gentle female vocals then take over but truth be told, the song failed to ignite any positive reactions from me.

Deep Still Part 1 opens with soft violin and keyboards then finally bass guitar but simply drifts about with little structure or cohesion. Call it ambient if you like. It's meditative properties might help some in painful acknowledgement of a worrying disease diagnosis however. Part 2 drives the song a little further with a more solid structure along with the inclusion of more biting guitar, drums and a recurring theme. Some slap bass and keyboard sections breaks up the continuity a little until some further heavy riffage takes over with even more dissonance.

The Waltz returns with the familiar vocal delivery style found on the previous albums and provides a welcome interlude from the previous mayhem. Pleasant flute adds to the charm. Half way through the band return with more acerbic guitar and seem to enjoy following this pattern with most of their albums. Under Broken Skies is another pleasant song featuring a similar vocal style while Solitude is a short instrumental piece that begins with Fender Rhodes (probably sampled), violin and soft piano but then migrates into a vacuous space with echoing guitars and a short outro.

If I was to be totally honest I would have to suggest the band try too hard to cram an inordinate amount of variety into these albums. Sometimes it works well and at other times it fails to excite. I am always keen to see bands use some imaginative ideas in their song writing and to use an assortment of instruments to augment their sound.

Let's face it, the choice these days is enormous, particularly with keyboards and synthesizers in general. At the end of the day, an album needs for all the songs to be stitched together with a recognisable and seemless pattern to their placement on the playlist. This then has the effect of ensuring the album flows cohesively and does not impose too serious an effort on the part of the listener to unpack it all and appreciate the contents.

The band certainly possess some great ideas and their instrumental dexterity is not in question at all here. I would prefer to see some angularity replaced with more melodic sections as these are the best aspects I find with their music. More attention also needs to be given to the re-playability factor as a well constructed and composed album always benefits the listener with multiple spins. In conclusion, these are all well recorded and quite interesting albums, albeit with the few caveats mentioned above. Will they be played on a regular basis on my weekly playlist? Probably not, but I will certainly resample the contents of each album from time to time.