Kinetic Element, Travelog

From Richmond, Virginia, comes the prog juggernaut Kinetic Element and their album Travelog (MRR 22112). It is a quartet with some nice guest vocalists. The quartet itself is Mike Visaggio on keyboards, Todd Russell guitars, Michael Murray on drums and Mark Tupelo on electric bass.

This is long-form arranged-composed rock that manages to forward the prog tradition of involved music without sounding derivative especially. The players are strong, the music is intriguing and interesting. An indication of where they are coming from is in the 20-minute opening suite "War Song." This is about the old expansive way of coming across, but they do so in their own way.

If prog is something you still pursue, this is a good example of what's new and interesting. Mike writes much of it, but then Todd takes on some of the song crafting, too. The overall thrust of the writing-arranging is what comes across most readily.

So you may well want to explore this band. Seems to me they are on the verge of something important, and this album shows you the excellent realization of their own vision so far.