cHoclat FRoG - 2023 - On Detour to Shortcut [mini-review]

(52:33; Choclat Frog)

German band cHoclat FRoG are out with the album "On Detour to Shortcut", and progressive rock is the style explored on this production. This is quite the creative and expressive venture into the progressive rock universe, and one of the common denominators are recurring passages that align fairly close to what you might describe as hard progressive rock. This isn't a band that stick close to this arguable foundation though, but instead they stretch out from it into landscapes that are both psychedelic and cosmic for starters. More atonal and atmospheric laden passages are numerous too, and more often than not these come with unusual properties to a lesser or greater extent. Side steps into a myriad of more whimsical landscapes is something of a defining aspect of the compositions too, and those fond of quirky instrument details, unusual sounds and notes and sequences with more of an avant-oriented expression will find plenty to enjoy here too. That elements from jazzrock as well as some impulses from chamber rock appears as well rather comes with the territory here. A production to seek out by those who enjoy a more diverse variety of hard progressive rock explored inside of an avant context and tradition.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, December 2023

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