Way Back Home
Self-Released, 2021
9/10
An outfit from Argentina who know their way around a very diverse and dynamic prog-rock tune, Bastian Per offer us 13 tracks of their rich, intricate and powerful song craft on this sophomore album.
“A Better World” opens the listen with warm keys and much atmosphere that sets the mood, and “Overture” follows as a firm prog-rock presence builds amid the thumping drums and swirling melodies.
Near the middle, “Through The Fires” places strategic guitar alongside the bright keys and more forceful singing that borders on hard rock, while “Seize The Day” leads with gentle piano before entering dreamy areas with spoken word. “The Mystery Behind”, one of the album’s best, then offers a thicker, more prog-metal version of their eclectic vision.
Approaching the end, “Greatness Delirium” recruits Derek Sherinian for a busy and precisely textured landscape, and “Divine Device” exits with cautiousness that segues into a thick, almost cinematic presence that you can’t help but admire.
A record that thematically surrounds leaders who have lost their focus and questions the repercussions of human actions that provide the impetus for desperate need for change, for the prog inclined, it just doesn’t get much better than this.
Travels well with: Fatal Fusion- Dissonant Minds; Laughing Stock- The Island