Ferrigno, Leal, Kuprij - Promised Land

Year of Release: 2003
Label: Lion Music
Catalog Number: LMC071
Format: CD
Total Time: 50:31:00

Vitalij Kuprij was born in the Ukraine and has an impressive career in classical music, as he studied the piano and won numerous prizes with his performances. But, besides his composing and piano playing, this multi talented performer has another side that is of interest. Vitalij Kuprij and his friend and guitar player Roger Staffelbach founded the neo-classical progressive rock/metal band Artension, and released five albums with this band, as well as three solo albums. Although classical music is his main focus, he still has time for rock orientated projects. For Promised Land, Vitalij formed an interesting line up with Philip Boyce (Ring of Fire, ex-Steve Vai, Genius - A Rock Opera) on bass and Jon Doman on drums. But the most interesting is the fact that Kuprij teamed up with no less than two guitarists in an unusual set up: Marco Ferrigno plays guitar on the left channel and Javier Leal plays guitar on the right channel! This creates a very peculiar effect, which can be enjoyed best if you listen to the album with headphones.

It is no surprise that Promised Land is a very guitar oriented album, but there is a lot of room for keyboards and despite the very technical play of Ferrigno and Leal, Kuprij brings in many classical elements with his play. The guitar and keyboard parts intertwine throughout the album and in turn they have their solos. The album is entirely instrumental and I think that is the main reason why the music is a bit too technical. The two guitars and the keys, all three demand the lead in the songs, although they have a solid backing by the drums and bass. The song "Eternal" is a moment of rest (in the album) as this begins with a church organ sound, followed by a bit more laid back keyboards and less guitar than most of the songs. The final track on the album, "The Prohecy," has an epic sound to it, with a bit of a classical melody in the keys and in the second half of the song, a heavier guitar riff.

Promised Land is an excellent album, with a good production and strong compositions, but unfortunately I find it all a bit too technical and I miss the emotion in the songs. Nonetheless it is a very nice album to listen to, especially because of the effect from the two guitarists each playing either the left or the right channel. Recommended to people who digest Planet X, other Derek Sherinian solo stuff and instrumental rock/metal in general.

[This review originally appeared May 2003 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
Promised Land (8:30) / The Prisoner (5:15) / Death And Illusions (6:34) / Inner (5:56) / Ethiopia (5:30) / Eternal (6:55) / Vigilance (6:19) / The Prophecy (5:29)

Musicians:
Marco Ferrigno - guitars (left channel)
Javier Leal - guitars (right channel) Vitalij Kuprij - keyboards
Philip Boyce - bass
Jon Doman - drums

Discography:
Promised Land (2003)

Genre: Rock

Origin VA

Added: December 4th 2004
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website:
Hits: 2469
Language: english