(Crossover Prog / Progressive Rock) The Samurai of Prog - Secrets of Disguise 2CD - 2013, APE (image+.cue), lossless

Multinational ensemble THE SAMURAI OF PROG was formed sometime around 2009 as a project lead by Finland-based Italian composer and bassist Marco Bernard.
He's been active in the Finnish Association for Progressive Music since 1995, and have been involved in their Colossus Magazine since 1996 - and instrum
ental in the Colossus series of theme albums they have created in cooperation with French label Musea Records.
It was for a contribution to one of those projects that The Samurai of Prog was born, and joining Bernard as permanent members we find US artist Steve
Unruh and Finnish drummer Kimmo Porsti. Besides this core trio, the philosophy of this band appears to be to involve additional musicians as needed and
wanted, and their debut effort Undercover from 2011 bears testimony to that line of thinking, with a list of guest appearances impressive in length,
scope as well as quality.

Multinational ensemble THE SAMURAI OF PROG first appeared in 2009 as contributors to some of the Colossus series of concept albums, planned and
organized by the Finnish prog organization Colossus and released by French label Musea Records. Initially a duo consisting of Finland based, Italian
musician Marco Barnard and Finnish musician Kimmo Porsti, later with US musician Steve Unruh added to the core band. But rather than restricting
themselves to the talents of those three musicians, guest musicians have been involved too. Especially when the band decided to make an album of their
own. This production, "Undercover", appeared in 2011 and consisted first and foremost of cover tunes with a few minutes of original music thrown in for
good measure. Come 2013 and The Samurai of Prog returns with their second album. A double feature this time around, but pretty much set up in a similar
manner as their debut album: A lot of cover tunes and a few items of original material flavoring the proceedings.
The cover tunes are bye and large enjoyable excursions into rather varied parts of the symphonic progressive rock universe. Playful Italian prog and
Gentle Giant oriented material with jazzy flavoring side by side with accessible, melodic varieties of the style closer to the likes of Camel as well
as a ballad from Yes and a few items of darker sounding, brooding material pulled from the archives of bands such as King Crimson and Van der Graaf
Generator. The Samurai of Prog generally sticks to a faithful rendition of these compositions, they don't try to revolutionize these more or less
classic songs but they don't try to replicate them either. Subtle alterations is a feature for all the songs covered, with arrangement and instrument
choices as well as a somewhat larger emphasis on certain instrument features or expressions the main variations given to the different songs. Sometimes
to good effect and at other times not quite as much, most likely depending on just how close a relationship you have to the song in question. For me
personally, their take on Aspirations by Gentle Giant lacked the magic of the original as I'm probably to accustomed to and to fond of the sheer
superficial simplicity of the original, the cover version here containing a few too many details for my taste. Other pieces came across as much more
charming, and most charming of all for me their take on Utopia's "Singring and the Glass Guitar". A tongue in cheek epic composition on all levels, as
a fantasy fiction fan and as someone who have spent a few hours of my life playing computer role playing games this songs brought frequent smiles to my
face. But the general tendency of these songs residing somewhere in the symphonic progressive rock universe is probably the most important bit of
information for those curious about this double CD, and I might also add that all the songs covered has been given if not a modern then at least more
of a timeless mix and production, which at least to younger listeners most likely will make these cover versions worthwhile checking out for this detail
alone. The most impressive tracks at hand are the original ones however. Like on their debut album David Myers is at hand again with a splendid piano
introduction to one of the classic pieces of progressive rock, in this case it serves as an introduction to the band's take on Genesis Dancing with the
Moonlit Knight. And while it does take a bit of time to get accustomed to some of the vocal parts in it, the Gothic-flavoured dark symphonic exploration
of Lovecraft's spine chilling tale about Charles Dexter Ward is another clear highlight. Previously released on a conceptual tribute to Lovecraft, but
on this double CD presented in an alternative arrangement - nice.
The clear highlight for me was the playful, diverse and rather jolly Sweet Iphigenia however. From medieval folk music through vintage oriented symphonic
progressive rock to jazzrock and back again, this item is a celebration of the 70's progressive spirit given a contemporary coating, and a tune I suspect
was challenging, frustrating but also sheer fun to create and record. An excellent piece of progressive rock in it's own right.All in all, "Secrets of
Disguise" is a solid album by this multinational project. A taste for symphonic progressive rock is needed, and an open mind as far as cover versions
are concerned, but if you recognize yourself in such a description this is a double CD that should provide you with plenty of enjoyable listening. And,
at least for me, the 20 or so minutes of original material presented the proverbial icing on the cake.

Marco Bernard - Bass
Kimmo Porsti (Mist Season) - Drums, Percussion
Steve Unruh (Resistor, solo) - Vocals, Guitars, Violin, Flute
With
Mimmo Ferri - electric piano on track 6
Beatrice Birardi - vibraphone on track 6
Jan-Olof Stranberg - fretless bass on track 6
Jon Davison (Yes),
Roine Stolt (Flower Kings),
Guy LeBlanc (Camel),
Robert Webb (England),
David Myers, Mark Trueack (Unitopia),
Phideaux Xavier, Kamran Alan Shikoh (Glass Hammer),
Linus Kase (Anglagard), Mento Hevia (Crack),
Lalo Huber (Nexus),
Srdjan Brankovic, Akos Bogati-Bokor, Stefano Vicarelli,
Risto Salmi, Octavio Stampalia, Matthijs Herder,
Andrew Marshall (Willowglass)