Proud Peasant - 2023 - Communion [mini-review]

(51:23; Basement Avatar Records)



















US band Proud Peasant are out with the album "Communion", and progressive rock is the style explored on this production. As a matter of fact, this is a band that approach and execute this style of music as it was 1975 all over again. The instruments have a vintage sound to them, the mix and production comes with tons of romantic vintage qualities, and the manner in which the songs ebb and flow with a gleeful and inclusive spirit is also very much in line with what progressive rock used to be back in its commercial heyday. Gentle pastoral sequences and elegant flirts with folk rock element coexist nicely with atmospheric laden landscapes with a dremladen quality here, but expressive excursions into more of a symphonic progressive rock oriented style is very much the order of the day too. Side steps into more loose and playful escapades with more of a jazzrock feel to them is a recurring element too, and the band haven't forgotten about classic hard rock or classic era hard progressive rock either. With everything concluding with an almost 20 minutes long epic length composition - the proper way to conclude a progressive rock album for many. If you enjoy the playful, expressive and inclusive variety of progressive rock that reached it's commercial and possibly also its creative peak sometime in the middle of the 1970's, this is an album with your name written all over it.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, November 2023

Links:
https://www.proudpeasant.com/
https://basementavatarrecords.com/

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