Stakhanovism is a term that was used by the Soviets to praise a highly productive and dedicated worker (originally it comes from the name of the miner 'Aleksei Stakhanov' who set a record for coal mining in Stalinist Russia). It seems to me very well suited for the German 'Chris Engels' who could be the "stakhanovist of progressive rock" because he returns a few months later 'Pride' with 'Human', a new recording from his project 'CEN-ProjekT' and in the meantime he has also released 'Chaos (War of the Worlds)' from his other project 'Chris Angels' which, for the moment, establishes at four the number of studio recordings he has released in 2023 because we must add the very good 'Tales From Avalon' published in March 2023. Quite close in terms of the general theme to 'Pride', I quotes him: "This album takes the listener on a profound and introspective journey through a variety of themes and emotions. Each track on "Human" is a lyrical and melodic exploration of the complexity of life, love, wisdom, and the human experience.".
Musically, we find this refined and atmospheric progressive that Chris offered us in these previous albums with compositions between 5 and 7 minutes which gives him time to develop a story in which we let ourselves be carried away. 'The Depths of Pain' sets the tone of this latest album with a mid-tempo on which Chris places his delicate vocals, the atmospheric side being very present by the addition of reverb and the good place left to instrumental sections, including the long central keyboard solo bringing the progressive side. Overall, we will find these calm and relaxing atmospheres in titles like 'Life and Death' which is a reflection on this strong link between life and death, the beautiful ballad 'The Lore' on the essential values of life which are kindness, respect and humility, 'In Life's Quiet Stream' which sends us the message of the importance of seizing the moments that often go unnoticed, or 'In a Land of Fairytales' which takes us into a tale fanciful in which the hare and the fox join together to share their strength in the moonlight, without forgetting the composition 'Love' which ends the album with a very beautiful crescendo falling at the end of the title as it had begun, the whispered singing of 'Chris Engels' accompanying some keyboard notes. As for the other compositions, 'Romeo & Juliet' is more symphonic and brings a pastoral side in the middle of the title with a flute, 'The Bomb' deals with the destructive power of the atomic bomb and takes us back to the progressive of the 70s, 'Genesis' comes to mind from the beginning of the title, and 'Merlin', even if the atmosphere remains quite calm, brings a more majestic atmosphere with abundant keyboards and beautiful acoustic breaks.
In summary, 'Human' remains in the continuity of previous albums and is added to the already numerous list of studio recordings by the German 'Chris Engels' who continues his progressive adventure by taking us into his calm and musical world. serene which offers us a good way to escape, for a moment, from the hectic pace of our modern lives... | |
