Band: Sympozion

CD Title: “Kundabuffer”

Label: Unicorn Digital

Release Date: 2006

There’s been a bit of a buzz in certain avant-prog circles about a band from Israel called Sympozion. Well after listening to their new released Kundabuffer I can certainly see what all the chatter is about. These guys have really got it together. So fans of RIO or anyone who’s looking for music that’s on the more complex side please pay particular attention.

Sympozion have been together now for just a few years, but each of the members brings a wealth of musicianship and creativity to the project. The band consists of Arik Hayat (keyboards, vocals, recorders), Elad Abraham (guitar, recorders), Ori Ben (guitars), Dan Carpman (bass, vocals), and Boris Zilberstein (drums). Now here’s the key point, never has such complicated music been so easy to listen to. These guys create a sound that is packed with musicianship and yet is never overbearing. The compositions are well developed and feel very complete.

The CD’s 8 tracks range in length from three and a half to eleven minutes, with six of them being instrumental and two sung in Hebrew. The music is clearly in the RIO or avant-prog genre but what I noticed is that there is an over-riding upbeat feel to the compositions. It’s like they’re all happy songs, which to my ear seems new. We tend to associate the more complex styles with a dark or brooding feel but by and large that doesn’t show up in the music of Sympozion. The music is certainly complex and busy, changing time and tempo and density all over the place, but rarely does it get dissonant. These five guys develop some great melodies and harmonics that hardly ever go off the rails, neatly straddling the line between rock and jazz. The influences are there but are certainly well hidden, incorporated into their own particular style. There are moments where hints of Gentle Giant will surface with some busy counterpoint or polyrhythm’s and then there will be other times where some Camel styled symphonic flourishes or themes will poke through and then just when you think you’ve heard it all you might hear Univers Zero with a darker, chamber rock moment but all these influences are never that obvious. Those in the know will also appreciate the fact that Kundabuffer was produced by Udi Koomran who brings his skills from many years as sound engineer for the band Present also in the RIO fold.

If you’re a fan of the more complex side of progressive rock Sympozion will be a must-ad to your CD collection. But I have to say that if you’ve shied away from the RIO genre for any reason, this will be a great CD to pick up as an introduction because it’s just so easy and enjoyable to listen to. The music on Kundabuffer really lives up to the hype and delivers the goods.