DUTCH ZENIT REVIEW

Remains of a white dwarf star or a star becomes a black hole? For the Swiss prog rock formation Zenit was unclear where they would evolve with 'The Chandrasekhar Limit' go - hence the title. The astronomical zenith may be different for each observer, but one thing is certain: this third album is the most ambitious of the Alps Band.

Founded in 1998 on the ashes of Clepsydra, Changes and Brainstorm, Zenit is a combination of progressive forces in the Alpine region with the most famous name of bassist Andy Thommen. The highest point of the prog heaven they might not reach, but with 'The Chandrasekhar Limit' is chosen for an original approach to the genre.

Take PiGreco which theatrical prog ingeniously merges with jazz and funk. Or Matrimandir with his conjuring, oriental melody formation (and snippets sung in Sanskrit), samba rhythms, seventies jazz rock and medieval folk rock Gryphon. It is a big step forward compared to the previous album 'Surrender' (2006) where the influences of Marillion and Supertramp still finger-runs.

In the sweet ballad Lady Cub and playful rocker Pulsar the quintet as credible miniaturists. sounds In contrast, the twenty-minute opus The Daydream Suite, which is the circle. Brought opener Awaken already a salute to the great Floyd with their own take of the instrumental section of Echoes , then sound 'Dark Side Of The Moon', 'The Wall' and 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' throughout this lengthy daydream. Although subtle, this is not working epigones. The vocals still does most reminiscent of Bernardo Lanzetti (PFM).

'The Chandrasekhar Limit' is made of very diverse influences, but has a remarkable homogeneous sound.However, the band had no preconceived purpose in writing this record. The only intention was to reconcile various moods and translate the game. Enjoyment to the listener There is one succeeded with brio.

http://damusic.be/cd/zenit/the-chandrasekhar-limit

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ZENIT REVIEWED AT 'ALL ABOUT JAZZ'

Switzerland - One of the most respected progressive rock bands ever to emerge from Switzerland, Zenit, have released their third album 'The Chandrasekhar Limit' on Galileo Records on January 28, 2013. Possibly the most ambitious release of 2013, right from the beginning of Zenit's new 69-minute masterpiece, Andy  (formerly Clepsydra), affixes a seal with his distinctive bass playing on the first song (“Awaken”). Later, with the start of the guitar, you will somewhat be reminded of the Clepsydra sound: awesome guitar-bass team play! Here is the beginning of what to expect from this brilliant album – quality!

Says Andy Thommen, “We've chosen 'The Chandrasekhar Limit' as the title because this mathematical threshold defines if a white dwarf star remains a star or becomes a black hole... So, as a band we feel that we are passing a crossroads without knowing where this track leads to. We do not know if we are above or below the Chandrasekhar limit.”

Read on...

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ZENIT BELGIAN REVIEW

ZENIT - The Chandrasekhar LIMIT

A seventy-minute plate with barely six numbers on it, which is something I do not often get presented for your review to Roots Time. Yet that is what happened to me today with the progressive rock album "The Chandrasekhar Limit" of the formation 'Zenit' established in 1998 in the Italian-speaking part of the country of Switzerland. In 2001, this symphonic rock group playing first came on the music market, with their debut album "Pravritti" for which they had met a real singer with Lorenzo Sonognini Sonognini writes the lyrics he sings the ethereal music that is produced by his bandmates, being guitarist Luigi Biamino, keyboard player Ivo Bernasconi, bassist Andy Thommen and drummer Gabriele Schira. 'Zenit' plays on just about all the progressive rock festivals in Switzerland and Italy and found five years after the release of their debut came in 2006 when a second plate towards music world with the album "Surrender" to launch Now it took seven years before this third album "The Chandrasekhar Limit" was allowed to appear on the record market. The first song "Awaken" is all right for a 12-minute symphonic rock, followed by lasting a scant 3 minutes Cub Lady ", the shortest track on this CD. "Pi Greco" is good for 7 and a half minutes and also for the video that you can watch and listen to. According to our best track on the album is "Matrimandir", a 17 minute cinematic epic ethereal sounds and especially ripping guitar playing Luigi Biamino, but also very clever vocals Lorenzo Sonognini. Middle of the song there is also switched from rock to jazz to a few minutes later, back on the scene ending in the much louder rock sound "Pulsar" is the most commercial sounding song and also in terms of time we stay under 6 minutes for airplay on the radio stations seem to be an absolute limit. For the last track, however, you pull a half hours during the 24 and a half minute "The Daydream Suite" as a whole wishes to listen. If you want to compare the sound of 'Zenit' then you must think of a complex mix of the sound of 'Pink Floyd', 'Yes', 'Led Zeppelin' and 'Genesis'. That this Italian-speaking Swiss up there managed to enthrall despite this rather special way of making music from beginning to end is a merit that this quintet belongs only. Good work! (Valsam) www.rootstime.be CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO The Chandrasekhar Limit CD - �9.99

POLISH REVIEW OF ZENIT

Team Zenit was founded in 1995 by Andy Thommen (ex-bassist Clepsydre group) and keyboardist Ivo   For these two musicians playing the drums joined Pedruzzi Luigi, Frank Di Sessa guitarist and vocalist Lorenzo Sonognini. His debut album, "Pravritti" recorded in 2001, and five years later they released their second album Fri "Surrender". On the second disc featuring starring Stefano Zaccagni (saxophone), Mattia Santoro (cello), Ursula Maggini (flute), Marco Fontana and Calicantus Children's Choir.

As many as seven years we had to wait for their latest album "The Chandrasekhar Limit," which had its premiere on Jan. 28, 2013, and was released by Galileo Records. Even the album cover arouses interest and raises the question of whether the contents of music presented by the Swiss group will also sonically intriguing and space?

Looking at the list of tracks at once pay attention to three long compositions. All in all, this record is six songs that make up almost 70 minutes of music, so why listen. The first composition, "Awaken", begins with an acoustic guitar and vocals, this beautiful ring out the keys. Opens before us a classic neoprog climate, enriched sharper guitar solos and a pulsating bass sound that carry us in the 70s Beautifully inspire us to explore the next tracks contained on this album. A short, three-minute "Lady Cub" is something of genesisowych achievements, such at least my impression. The third track "Pigreco" group Zenit introduces elements of psychedelic, not fleeing from jazzujących sounds too. The whole is based on the solid foundation of a progressive sound. Boys can their music, its appropriately selected and mixed species content, customer interest and positively surprise him. In his works draw ideas from alternative and progressive achievements of a number of groups to form varied, but very varied, and most importantly, a very interesting music. On this album, singing not only in English, as we can see listening to more than 17-minute composition "Matrimandir", where oriental music takaż text and start the recording. In this work, we hear a chorus and a lot of various, wonderful style of instrumental sounds and acoustic jazzrockowych climates. In his final resounds again sung " ... Sarveā 'Svastir Bhavatu, Sarve'ā' SANTIR Bhavatu, Sarve'ā 'Pūr'a' Bhavatu, Sarve'ā 'Mangala' Bhavatu Om ". wonderful sounds from the vocal, it is hard to away from this piece and wants to sing it along with Lorenzo.

By the end of the disc there are still two compositions. Instrumental, vigorously executed, "Pulsar" every second is gaining momentum, and shows how much potential lies dormant in the creative team. In front of us the last music scene, but it is as done!"The Daydream Suite" from the very first minute delivers amazing experiences that grow as listening to this more than twenty-minute musical feast. Processed voice takes us into the air and allows the music to take a break from reality. Excited such a beautiful musical journey, the force with which the moves and stirs emotions in us, we want to remain with us for a long time, not wanting to go back to everyday life that surrounds us. The various eye-catching sounds that we hear in this track will not be able to separate us from the speakers, to discourage the music so well growing beautiful backing vocals, guitar solo and nastrojowymi keys. The last few minutes of the composition remains in the memory for a very long time. At the end of the song, after a short silence, we hear these words: "... In The End, It's Only Music". For some, it can and sound, but for those who are able to listen to the instrumental parts played beautifully, skillfully enhanced vocals, the music will leave an indelible mark in the sensitive soul.

Recommend to read this latest proposal team Zenit, which, as you can hear on the album, is constantly developing and seeking to enrich their sound. This album is impressive from start to finish. Can enchant melodic lines, grab his attention in batches bass guitar solos and beautiful, classic and modern sound keys, and complex and harmonious vocals. Active grabs the listener into another musical world. That's the album "The Chandrasekhar Limit".

At the end of the group Zenit remind Lorenzo Sonognini (vocals, acoustic guitar), Luigi Biamino (guitar, backing vocals), Ivo Bernasconi (keyboards), Andy Thommen (bass, backing vocals), Gabriele Schira (drums and percussion) and guest Stefano Zaccagni (saxophone), Asia Thommen, Diana Bernasconi, Maria Scandella, Ilaria Widmer (additional backing vocals of "The Daydream Suite"). The final word on the end of the album says Matt Goodluck. Cover is designed by Sander Kwiatkowski, who is also known album covers of bands such as Jungle, Clepsydre, Shakary and Amplify.

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ZENIT REVIEW

I must admit of being rather unaware of the Swiss band Zenit and their take on progressive rock. When I heard them described as neo prog, alarm bells were starting to go off in my head. In my experience, a lot of music labelled as neo prog turns out to be not very good. Still, I decided to give their latest album from 2013, The Chandrasekhar Limit, a go.

I’ve never been so happy to be mistaken. While this album may have a lot of the elements that most neo albums have, it is all done so well, with the emphasis on wonderful song-writing, joined by a very analytical arranging approach. With neo bands mostly favouring tributes to the 70s symphonic progressive scene, it’s would be easy to neglect other musical genres. Still, Zenit add some very daring touches to this picture. We have some jazzy segments to keep it interesting, but what really caught my attention was the Eastern influenced Matrimandir. The rest of the album features some epic progressive goodness and some catchier moments as well. It would have been a blinding album even without the untraditional neo elements, but with them it has risen to the status of “very special”.

With a Fish-y voice and Gilmour-like guitar, this album could have been headed for a typical neo showcase. The band managed to avoid these traps by adding some of their own ideas and musical fancies into the mix. It all works well and is especially fresh.

The album is warm and touches the soul, yet it is also highly serious and complex. A great combination of the heart and the brain working in unison.

8.5 out of 10.

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ZENIT REVIEW

The Chandrasekhar Limit is the third album from Swiss progressive act Zenit, with the album title referring to the mathematical threshold which defines if a white dwarf remains a star, or becomes a black-hole... and here was me thinking that it meant that things should sound like a mixture of Gabriel era Genesis, Fish era Marillion and countless Neo-Prog acts. Now perhaps that's a little unfair, with Zenit not being as blatant about their influences as many bands operating in this arena, with the six tracks on this album being mostly dreamy affairs more interested in setting scenes and telling stories than providing catchy choruses.

As expected the five musicians who make up the band are supremely talented, with the focused, yet meandering style taken on by Zenit allowing them all the space to really stretch out and work their instruments hard. To their credit, they do so, but without the need to be uber-technical, or sacrifice the song for the solo. That said, the over use of "play-time" bass noodling as a platform for more intricate guitar, keyboard, percussion sections to flourish, often removes the atmosphere built up and while prog is known as a facet of music where more time is given to songs to mature and grow, there's no doubt that some of this album is lengthier than the ideas truly merit. However with the niggles out of the way, what tracks like "Pulsar" and "PiGreco" do extremely well, is to layer sound that envelopes the listener and take them on the travels the songs so ably describe.

Much of the album is instrumental, although the lyrics are plentiful too, with the vocal interludes from Lorenzo Sonognini adding colour and imagery to the music in fine style. Closing piece "The Daydream Suite", which runs to nearly twenty five minutes, sums up both Zenit and their third album very well indeed, illustrating both the frustrations and rewards served up here in abundance. Long instrumental sections veer between pointed and pointless, while the vocals appear to bring all the disparate strands back together. It makes for an unusual journey where within one song your attention can slide between unbreakable and shattered.
Possibly one of the most accomplished 70s inspired prog albums I've heard so far this year, that doesn't stop The Chandrasekhar Limit from being almost as frustrating to listen to, as is it to type. If you are one of those lucky enough to still have completely free afternoons to sit with nothing else in the world to interrupt your music, you could do much worse than spend it with Zenit. Others may find that time to feel lost and underused.

Track Listing
1. Awaken
2. Cub Lady
3. PiGreco
4. Matrimandir
5. Pulsar
6. The Daydream Suite

Added: April 5th 2013
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score: 
Related Link: Zenit Online
Hits: 5
Language: english

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Andy Thommen from Zenit (Part Two)

I am embarrassed to admit that until their CD  The Chandrasekhar Limit popped through my letter box courtesy of the lovely Anne-Marie at Gonzo HQ, I had not heard of Zenit. But Galileo Records have been putting out so much fine stuff recently that I had high hopes from them. My hopes were justified - they are magnificent. Much more subtle than much of today's contemporary progfare the band show an admirable lightness of touch that should be emulated by all and sundry. They have a deft awareness of the importance of light and shade, in the way that Pink Floyd had, and that few bands that followed have mastered. They are a very very good band, and I have somewhat of a proselytising hat on whilst I write about them, because they deserve to be absolutely massive.

Just in case you missed it, yesterday's installment of this interview can be found HERE

JON: Have you got stuff written for the next album yet?

ANDY: <laughs>  I sent, this morning, a demo to colleagues with an idea.  We have a lot of ideas but the difference between the other albums and this one, is that we have very few ideas at the moment, and one thing is that the keyboardist – who is the oldest member of the band – he played it say 15 different bands over the years and he had a lot of ideas and a lot of material, and that is what we mainly used as a starting point for the first three albums.    And that is why we said The Chandrasekhar Limit limit is a point where you don’t know exactly which direction you are going to take. And that is exactly the moment where now we have to start even more from scratch.  We don’t have basic ideas, or very old ideas, which we can work on and modernise them or personalise them to the band so we are probably at a bit of a change, which is very good because we have this new drummer, who is a very good drummer,  and when we do some improvisation we see that it will be very easy to get to good ideas.  And that brings me to one point, if you’ll allow me to change a bit. Sometimes we get reviews where it says we are neo-prog or it’s really Marillion-like, or it sounds like this or like that.  Most of these songs, the original idea, were written even when Marillion didn’t exist. Our keyboardist played in a lot of bands and he was extremely unlucky, because every time he was close to really producing something, the band split up, he changed country, he changed cities, or whatever and this was the first time he was able to use some old ideas.  I don’t know if you remember the cassette tapes – we had some old tapes which we listened to and said this is a good idea, let’s start on this one, and sometimes they were ideas from the ‘70s and the ‘80s.

JON: How long has the band been together?

ANDY: The band has officially existed since May ’98. It’s an interesting story.  I mean I played in another quite successful prog band, which was Clepsydra, which I left in ’98,  but I met Ivo – the keyboardist – and Gigio Pedruzzi – the former drummer – three years earlier because there was a tour planned for Clepsydra, but the drummer and the keyboardist had time issues or were not able to attend so we decided to go with tour musicians and I had extremely fun playing with Ivo and Gigio on drums, even if it was another band, and I always said that if ever I had time I would like to put up a project with them and when I left the other band the first call was to them and say hey let’s start something, and it was quite easy to found the band and the band’s ideas came up really fast and then we found a singer and guitar player and that’s the story behind.

JON: Well I think it is a fantastic band and I’m very disappointed that I’ve not heard of you before.  Have you guys got any plans to play in the UK?

ANDY: Oh the plans are there.  The problem is – on one side there are the cost issues and there are not many – you know I am in contact with festival organisers and all these things  - that’s the issue.  Zenit is not known of as a name, so when we call and when we send a promo or we send an email, we are one of probably 100s that they are receiving and it’s a bit difficult and strange for a band whose third album is unknown because the first two albums were self-produced, because we were really still doing music for fun.  We are not trying to make money out of it. We are not living for music and we don’t want to because we want to keep it as a fun factor in our lives.  And that’s a bit difficult.  We would play almost everywhere.  We are in discussions now with the Netherlands, with Italy and a few other dates in Switzerland, so if anyone who reads this interview from the UK has a spot for us we would be extremely glad to  play in the UK.

JON: Well I see it as my job now.  I am going to go out and tell as many people in the UK about your band because I think you are very, very good.

ANDY: Thank you very much.  There is another small issue. Normally all these concerts and festivals – on the one side it is all the big names and on the other side – I often hear ah you are not progressive metal – we are too Pink Floyd-ish, we are too … I don’t know how to explain….. We have a lot of atmosphere – we are not hard enough for a lot of people and still a lot of people think that a band that does a lot of noise on the stage just to get more audience.  It’s a bit difficult, but we are working on it and again, we love to play live. And what we do, and I know it’s sometimes difficult to believe, but it’s a 90% match to the record because we really love sounds. We are not just playing it one to one, but we are really trying to give the audience the original feelings when you are listening to the record.

JON: Well I look forward to seeing you live. We’ve got to get you over to England some time, because I haven’t got enough money to come over and see you in Switzerland, so we’ve got to get you over to England. So I’m going to make it my mission to get you as well known in the UK as we possibly can. 

And I mean it! I think that they are a superb band, and really deserve to be massive, so I make no apologies for the fact that I am going to be campaigning very hard on their behalf from this point on!

In the meantime check THIS out:

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Andy Thommen from Zenit (Part One)

I am embarrassed to admit that until their CD  The Chandrasekhar Limit popped through my letter box courtesy of the lovely Anne-Marie at Gonzo HQ, I had not heard of Zenit. But Galileo Records have been putting out so much fine stuff recently that I had high hopes from them. My hopes were justified - they are magnificent. Much more subtle than much of today's contemporary progfare the band show an admirable lightness of touch that should be emulated by all and sundry. They have a deft awareness of the importance of light and shade, in the way that Pink Floyd had, and that few bands that followed have mastered. They are a very very good band, and I have somewhat of a proselytising hat on whilst I write about them, because they deserve to be absolutely massive.

The Galileo website has this to say about them:

Zenit was found in Southern Switzerland (Ticino) in 1998 by bass player Andy Thommen, keyboarder Ivo Bernasconi and drummer Gigio Pedruzzi after their well-known experiences with bands like Clepsydra, Changes and Brainstorm. In 2001 with the addition of singer Lorenzo Sonognini, Zenit release their debut album „Pravritti“ with words in Italian as well as in English, followed by inspiring live performances in relevant prog festivals. In 2006, with the addition of Luigi Biamino on guitars, the band releases the second album „Surrender“. The song material is elaborate even so catchy and offers all fans of Genesis, Marillion, Supertramp, Kansas or Gentle Giant all that they love in their favorite bands. The production of „Surrender“ is crisp and very accurate what makes sound all tone diversity covering multiple musical desires. On Zenit’s 3rd album „The Chandrasekhar Limit“ (69 minutes), Andy Thommen affixes a seal with his distinctive bass play right from the start of the first song (“Awaken”). Later, with the start of the guitar, you will somewhat be reminded of the Clepsydra sound: awesome guitar-bass team play! Here you start with what you expect to get from this brilliant album: quality. The marvelous long tracker “Matrimandir” (17 minutes), brings a breath of oriental sounds in a very subtle but delicate way without being brash, despite the Sanskrit lyrics now and then. One of the best long tracker of recent times clocking around 25 minutes, is “The Daydream Suite” that brings reminiscences of Pink Floyd and all the other stuff a prog suite should have: crazy keyboard solos, melodic guitar lines, cool bass parts and complex choirs, harmoniously in action. The rocking instrumental sound of “Pulsar”, the sweet and sinful ballad “Cub Lady” and the screaming-jazzy “PiGreco” song, jointly make up an impressive and progressive rock album of the 21st century. 

For those of you not in the know, I am bi-polar and there are some days - like yesterday - when I am no use to man nor beast. However, I did manage to pull myself together for about twenty minutes and have an interesting chat with Andy Thommen of Zenit. I was not at all well whilst I was talking to him, and had to truncate the interview fairly abruptly when my housekkerper and kids arrived, causing Prudence (my massively bulky bulldog x boxer bitch) to rush about everywhere like a tee-to-tum barking insanely. This was too much for my faltering mental health to deal with, and so I promised that we would talk again soon, and said my goodbyes. Andy, my friend - I am terribly sorry about that. I would have liked to have talked for longer, and I will set up another interview soon, I promise.

On with the show:

  

JON: I very much like your album.  I think it is very good indeed.

ANDY: Thank you very much

JON: Did it take a long time to do?

ANDY: Seven years

JON: That’s quite a long time.

ANDY: No, no, seven years is the time we had between the second album and this actual third album.  We had a lot of trouble between these two albums.  Mainly a band member had an accident, and we had kids coming so time was extremely restricted for another band member during this time.  We have a total of something like 12 or 13 kids for the band members so we are extremely busy with our families.  And at the end when we were ready, let’s say three years ago, the drummer changed which pushed us back a little bit on our plans, and finally we were ready, let’s say the middle of last year with a final print master, and then we made the deal with Galileo and Gonzo so it took a bit more time during the holiday season and then came the Christmas season and at the end it became January <laughs> so there are a lot of excuses but at the end for us it’s important to make  a very good product at the end – a very good album - and we had no strict deadline so in the end it took a lot of time but we are happy with it.

JON: Well, I think you should be.  It’s a very, very good album. I love the different textures of the sound.

ANDY: This was the idea.  We are all fans of Spock’s Beard, we are all fans of Flower Kings, you know, all these bands.  But normally we always say you put whatever song you decide or you try and you recognise them immediately because there is always this style across the whole sound and it was really the aim to make something that when you have to listen to a prog album which is normally very hard to  listen to from the beginning to the end, that you have different styles, different moods, different colours, different smells, that is why we went to this Asian/Indian sound and instrumentation to make it more comfortable to listen to.

JON: Well you certainly succeeded.  I was wondering, did you write the songs in the studio or were they already pre-written?

ANDY: No, no absolutely.  It’s probably a huge difference between our colleagues, or some colleagues I know, we play the songs.  We play them in our room, we modify them, we make some experiments but we always play them, and when someone comes up with an idea, we say let’s try it, if we can’t make this modification or this kind of sound and once we have the ‘wow’ effect, we play and we say ok let’s keep this part and move on to the next one, so before we move to the studio we are able to play it from A-Z completely and when we are able to play it and we are satisfied with it, then we go to the studio. There are some minor things added really only in the studio like the female choirs in the Daydream Suite and some other minor things, but basically they are playable songs and this is also how we play them live.

This seemed like a relatively sensible place to knock off for today. We will be back tomorrow with the second part of this interview. In the meantime check THIS out:

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A CHAT WITH ZENIT

Yesterday I was feeling more than slightly peculiar; in fact, I think it is fair to admit that I was feeling totally psychotic, and apart from watching a documentary on rockpooling (which I giggled through, every time I saw a hermit crab) I did the bare minimum all day and spent most of the time in bed. For those of you not in the know, I am bi-polar and there are some days - like yesterday - when I am no use to man nor beast. However, I did manage to pull myself together for about twenty minutes and have an interesting chat with Andy Thommen of Zenit. He really is a jolly nice chap, and - as I have noted on these pages before - the Zenit album The Chandrasekhar Limit is one of the best things that I have heard all year.

My dear wife is transcribing it as we speak, and I hope that my interview with Andy, together with some exclusive pictures will be on the Gonzo Weekly this weekend...

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ZENIT REVIEW

Spot Light: Zenit – The Chandrasekhar Limit 

(2013 Galileo Records)

From Switzerland hails a Prog band that I’m just becoming aware of. They are going by the name Zenit, and they just came out with a new CD entitled The Chandrasekhar Limit. Their third release according to their official website. 

So, a friend who knows I like Prog Rock (an understatement), snail-mailed Zenit’s,The Chandrasekhar Limit, to me. Worse thing that can happen is that I use it for a drink coaster, right? After spending more then a week listening to the almost 70 minute disc, giving the CD numerous repeated spins, I conclude it’s a solid Prog rock CD inside (the music) and out (artwork). 

The first track on a CD can sometimes be a make-it or break-it thing. Start off with a luke-warm song and expectations from the listener, also called consumer, in some instances, can immediately start declining. Flip side, come out of the gate with a kick-ass number, and that same listener now expects the consistency to last throughout the playing of the disc. Now we're talking, a perfect album. How hard is that to make? I imagine that’s the intention of every musician who reserves time in a recording studio. The Chandrasekhar Limit starts off with voice and acoustic guitar. The simple beginnings of a masterpiece.

Being old school, every time I played this Zenit recording I could not help but hear old school Prog influences such as early Genesis, Jon Anderson-era Yes, Spock’s Beard (especially on the first composition Awaken), and early Pink Floyd. You get the picture. And as much as I like rocking out I was pleased when I heard a Ted Nugent, Stranglehold era vibe. Made me want to turn up the volume to eleven. More bands and musicians from Prog's past come to mind actually. The idea here in regards to writing this review, is in part pass on through the written word what something sounds like. Zenit is guilty of hovering over the old school Prog Hall of Fame, but at the same time the group maintains via solid musicianship abilities for creating tight and memorable musical compositions, that are clearly all their own. Experience shows, by knowing and understanding song structure and as a solid unit knowing how to get the job done, gets the end results one is looking for. Here it is maintaining the ability to write a memorable composition. This is a huge step up from the formulated rock/prog bands I see dominating the current playing field. For I see 21^st century rock prog bands as being even better than their predecessors. To sound like them is one thing, but to create uniqueness that far exceed expectations and live in people’s mind their entire life, is soon to happen when fresh blood is introduced. Zenit represents to me in the year 2013, what a current Prog rock band should sound like. No shit !! Like when I first heard Spock’s Beard, back in the mid to late 90’s. There was an excitement in the air coming out of my home speakers as I played their magnificent debut album, The Light. I’m receiving the same vibe with Zenit’s, The Chandrasekhar Limit. It’s a good feeling. 

http://classicrockradioeu.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/zenit-chandrasekhar-limit-review.html

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ZENIT AT ROCK SOCIETY

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FRENCH ZENIT REVIEW

http://musicwaves.fr/frmChronique.aspx?pro_id=9746&url_ref=Zenit_The_Chandrasekhar_Limit

Group formed at the beginning of this millennium by Andy Thommen (former bassist Clepsydra ) and Ivo Bernasconi keyboards assured that the same group during the mini-tour "More Grains of Sand", Zenit publishes the year 2013 his third album, The Chandrasekhar Limit . Given the origins of the founders of the group, it would be easy to categorize as a Zenit nth group is sticking to neo-prog, and more like a clone Clepsydra. The latter goes, turn the page right away to say that the music offered by Swiss quintet does little closer to the neo-progressive upscale its congeners. The major similarity with respect to this style is to be sought in IQ, with a few passages that would not deny the British group, the intonation of the singer recalling be mistaken Peter Nicholls (with the same lack of accuracy in treble way!) ( Pigreco , Matrimandir ).

The instrumental Pulsar is a pure delight in style, with a different melody twists, all on a syncopated rhythmic shaking deliciously neurons. Zenit But where apart from his classmates, it is well with a variety most important musical worlds. References to progressive are obviously present, with a few nods to Andy Tillison and The Tangent ( Pigreco ), prog jazz party returning regularly in long compositions, but also large sequences strongly inspired by Pink Floyd , including a great instrumental break streaking the superb Awaken that recall the hypnotic atmospheres live in Pompeii, but also the chorus reinforced by female choirs at the end of the last track, strongly evocative of the last live performances of the group. Zenit does not, however, simply only these prestigious references to compose music, and ride the listener in a wide musical spectrum, the most obvious example being Matrimandir containing a blend of Indian-inspired music (within the meaning of the term Asian) including words in the local language, passages ambience worthy of the music played during one day strike at Radio France, chorus and symphony light.On this reading, the whole might seem very heterogeneous and unprepossessing, but it is nothing; 17 minutes of listening to the composition in one go, taking more and more important over the repetitions , validating the same time the project group not just narrow musical codes.

Paradoxically, outside of Lady Cub , acoustic song rather off-topic, and after the last 24 minutes of music is revealed as the least successful of all and drags somewhat in length, provided that the structure of this sequence and the porcupine its parts does not necessarily jump to the ears. Despite these reminiscences, The Chandrasekhar Limit one brand leap forward from earlier productions of the group, and deliver many moments of happiness to listeners who take the time to immerse themselves in the music far richer than it seems at first. Chronicle written byTonyB 27.03.2013

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GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Zenit - 'The Chandrasekhar Limit' album teaser (2013).

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ZENIT REVIEW

http://www.muzikreviews.com/reviews.php?ID=2506

Genre: Progressive Rock Label: Gonzo Import Visit Web Site Tracks 1. Awaken 2. Cub Lady 3. Pigreco 4. Matrimander 5. Pulsar 6. The Daydream Suite Zenit The Chandrasekhar Limit This review is on a release that I probably would not have unearthed on my own, so yet again I have to be thankful that I do a review slot. The album is The Chandrasekhar Limit and is release number three from the Italian speaking Swiss band, Zenit. Originally founded back in 1998, they released their debut album,Pavritti, in 2001 and their follow-up, Surrender, in 2006. Currently a 5 piece band, Zenit still have two of the original members from 1998, the keyboard player and the bass player. The full breakdown of the band is - Lorenzo Sonognini (acoustic guitar and vocals), Luigi Biamino (guitar and backing vocals), Ivo Bernasconi (keyboards), Andy Thommen (bass and backing vocals) and Gabrielle Schira (drums and percussion). Founder and bass player Andy Thommen says, “We've chosen The Chandrasekhar Limit as the title because this mathematical threshold defines if a white dwarf star remains a star or becomes a black hole... So, as a band we feel that we are passing a crossroads without knowing where this track leads to. We do not know if we are above or below the Chandrasekhar limit.” Unusually for me, I will state at the outset that this is one of those releases that hit the “sweet spot.” There have been some amazing albums released recently, but this is one of the “head and shoulders” above the majority, and that was a decision made after only one hearing. The Chandrasekhar Limit is a 6 track album with a total running time just under 70 minutes, with track 2, “Cub Lady”, the shortest at 2:42 minutes and the final track, “The Daydream Suite”, the longest at 24:35 minutes. Now we can get down to business explaining why this is such an awesome album to have reviewed. I will admit that I enjoy all the tracks on the album and in the 10 days I have had the album to review, two tracks have already been featured on my radio program. The opening track on The Chandrasekhar Limit is all that the first track on any release should be, and that is, instantly accessible and with killer riffs, passages and vocals. “Awaken,” (12:05) certainly ticks all of these boxes when after around 15 seconds of acoustic guitar with vocals, the track launches into a superbly memorable soaring guitar and keyboard riff which continues to weave in and out over the length of the track. There is an amazing passage from around 4 minutes (until just short of the 8 minute mark) where, over the terrific drumming by Gabrielle and bass work by Andy, the soaring guitar of Luigi lays a tremendous passage over the top, with the keyboards of Ivo weaving here and there in the background. This passage is very reminiscent of early Pink Floyd material. The track then breaks into a plaintive piano passage which fits so well and this is then joined by the superb acoustic guitar work of Lorenzo. Around the 9 minute point, we have rejoined the recurrent theme from earlier and the track builds and drives along to 12 minutes with stunning guitar and keyboard effects during the last minute. “Matrimandir” (17:08), is the other track I have featured and has a very Indian orientated sound to it with some of the ensuing vocals in Sanskrit and English. A sitar and a very ethnic sounding background show the versatility of the band prior to the electric guitar picking up and carrying the sitar riff onwards. Slight changes in tempo are used to accentuate sections and Luigi (on guitar) certainly shows he can play the instrument. Lorenzo’s vocals are extremely clear, even when they might not be understandable as they are in Sanskrit. At around the 4:40 minute point, there is a very distinct shift to a more jazz fusion passage with electric piano, guitar and simple crisp drumming before the keyboards briefly enter and leave again. Andy, on bass, also gets the opportunity to push the bass guitar to the fore in this passage. About halfway through the track, it morphs into a simple acoustic guitar passage with an almost choral vocal over it before the bass again adds more depth to the proceedings. There is more of the magnificent piano around 11:30 minutes which takes the track into another beautiful acoustic area which builds to the whole band in full flow again. The track then moves into its final phases where the initial theme reappears and the track plays out as it started over 17 minutes before. The other four tracks on The Chandrasekhar Limit are no less interesting, leading to another 5 star award earner. “Cub Lady” is a short acoustic based track and “PiGreco” is a keyboard driven up-tempo track with powerful vocals and superb drum/bass playing and ”Pulsar” is an instrumental and probably nearer a jazz fusion track than the others. The long last track, “The Daydream Suite,” certainly has its dreamy passages interspersed with more magnificent individual performances to end the album on a “huge high.” At the outset, I indicated that this was to be an extremely positive review and I repeat, that even with all the tremendous recent releases, this is certainly close to being the best CD I have had to review (Well, at least in the Top 3). Another of my special double-sized, full color “One To Buy” stickers on the front, and I might have to get more printed if releases continue to be superb, and a plea to every prog follower to beg or borrow (we don’t advocate the stealing) this CD and then do the “right thing” and buy it. I do not think that anyone would find The Chandrasekhar Limit anything but stunning. Key Tracks: Awaken, Matrimander. Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-MuzikReviews.com Staff March 22, 2013 ©MuzikReviews.com For Questions Or Comments About This Review Send An Email Toinfo@muzikreviews.com

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ZENIT/CRIS ROVERSI REVIEWS

http://freq.org.uk/reviews/zenit-cristiano-roversi/

Zenit – The Chandrasekhar Limit/Cristiano Roversi – AntiQua

Galileo

It seems that prog rock is alive and well in Europe again, which is a fantastic thing. And two of the countries that were most feverish about the original bands in the ’70s here prove their worth with these two releases from Galileo Records.

like a stripped back Topographic Oceans.

Zenit (from Switzerland) begin their album with with “Awaken” – not a cover of the Yes song, but an opus of their own. Acoustic guitars and gentle vocals open, before organ and drums hit in and the song take flight. Some wonderful Moog playing takes us through to a quiet piano section. The is very reminiscent of early Marillion at times; at other points, as in the lead guitar section, it feels sometimes we are knocking on the door of Rush. This hints more in the direction of the ’80s prog revival acts such as IQ. “Cub Lady” is a bittersweet acoustic interlude with a majestic bass line. Next up is “PiGreco,” a jaunty 9/8 style drum patterns scattered around underneath jazz piano chords. When the staccato chorus comes in I am reminded of early Magma. Some quite moving lead guitar feels out its more reflective middle section. The track ends with some epic Moog and guitar and an almost Steve Howe flourish.

“Matrimandir” has tribal drums and a sparkling Rick Wakeman-like lead keyboard line for its intro. From here on in we venture in to Yes eastern tonal territory, like a stripped back Topographic Oceans. Chanting vocals also help this analogy, and the vocals at time do sound like Mike Heron from the Incredible String Band. A lovely jazz workout middle section takes the track elsewhere with some guitar licks sounding like the late Peter Banks. When it moves into its acoustic section you can breathe in the influence of Trick of the Tail-era Genesis. Over its 17 minutes, the track takes you through various different landscapes but works best when it gets pastoral. “Pulsar” starts with a skiffle type shuffle that blends in with Howe-style atonlisms on guitar and some steady piano work. When the rhythm breaks through we are taken on a Asia style ride of how to play prog.

it’s great to hear some proper Vocoder vocals

The last track on the album is “The Daydream Suite,” the bands 24 minute magnum opus. It opens with some rather pretty Tony Banks-style piano playing before we move into the song proper. With some rather uplifting singing and chords we move back into Marillion territory by way of Pink Floyd. The sections build into an apotheosis of light with touches of shade and it’s great to hear some proper Vocoder vocals as well. The album as whole is wonderfully well played with a lot thought going in to the arrangements especially on ‘Daydream…’ This is proper Prog from its lilting quieter moments to the bombast of its louder sections.

Italian composer Cristiano Roversi’s album almost seems like a concept record. The opening track “Morning in AntiQua” is quite beautiful, all shimmering Anthony Phillips pastoral acoustic guitars and subtle piano. When the rhythm comes in the electric guitars take us skyward and its here that I hear the influence ofSteve Hackett. “Tales from Solitude Suite” plays out like a marvellous atmospheric score for a Lord of the Rings-style movie, as uplifting chords move into a shadow aspect of darkness while the vocals spin their tragic tale. Here we touch upon early Genesis, especially with the acoustic guitars and Mellotron mixture. “L’amore” is a more straightforward love song similar in feel to Rush’s “Closer to the Heart,” with its lovely acoustic guitar and organ combination. “Nessie Revealed” piles on the atmosphere with Oberheim-sounding synths that create lush landscapes of other worlds.

lush landscapes of other worlds

“Falling” has some female vocals singing over crystalline synths, and she sings of butterflies and spacecraft that gives the sound of LSD-induced dreams that meetFrank Frazetta-style fantasy. The acoustic and flute part conjures up images ofTrespass-era Genesis. “Dimlit Tavern” carries on the album’s fantasy theme as the music guides us into a Tolkien-style Middle Earth and the melody conjures up the images of dwarves and Hobbits drinking in a secluded ale house. A drum machine heralds in “Nirayed’s Secret Diary” and the track builds with its lush melancholic strings. Here again we are verging more into soundtrack territory as some of these pieces could fit exceedingly well within a fantasy film.

sings of butterflies and spacecraft that gives the sound of LSD-induced dreams

“AntiQua” is an elegant instrumental lead by strings and oboe and touched uponAnthony Phillips’ The Geese and the Ghost album at times. In fact I could almost imagine Phil Collins singing over this track, especially by the time theTony Banks-sounding lead keyboard comes in. “AntiQua Evening” is a beautiful piano coda to end the album and bring the entire record to a full circle, satisfying climax. Again the album is beautifully played and especially some of the more subtle numbers work very well. If you like Peter Gabriel-era Genesis this one is definitely for you.

These are two fine prog releases from Galileo, with fantastic artwork adorning both albums and a lot of care taken over both titles. If you are a prog fan check them out.

-Gary Parsons-

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