Album set for release on 22nd April 2016
‘Keeper of the Groove’ is the second post rock album to be released under the prog rock instrumental project The Soft Shades. The musical project was put together by Dimitry Gubsky in 2011.
Following on from the success of the 4 track EP released in November, The Soft Shades are now ready to release the full instrumental album and the end of April.
Founder Dimitry, has been passionate about music his whole life, he started learning how to play the accordion when he was just 7 years old. He has gone onto play and tour in lots of different successful bands in Europe as well as being involved in lots of different musical projects in his home country of Ukraine. In 2012 he played at Euroblast in Cologne with his previous band ‘Joncofy’. After being in lots of different bands, Dimitry wanted to create a new style of prog & metal instrumental music where he was involved in every aspect of the project from creating the music, writing the scores to producing and recording it all together for the album. It is very much his project that he had wanted to create for a really long time but wasn’t able to in his bands previously.
Each track on the album is highly original and a reflection of a different experience and emotion. At times the music is very cinematic with an intense feeling that you are waiting in anticipation for what is next to come.
Dimitry has spoken about the different influences behind the album;
“Everyday mood is what influenced the album, the track titles on the album show in some way what exactly inspired me for each song and all personal to experiences in my life.”
Highlight tracks include ‘First September Weekend, Sky Flares and November Storms. Another popular album track is ‘When This Day Comes’. This song was created to reflect the feeling you might feel on a Monday morning and thinking about going back to work after a perfect weekend off. It is a melancholic song that Dimitry has portrayed beautifully to reflex this mood.
The whole album is an exploration into the immersive world of rock, metal and instrumental music. The atmosphere over the 11 tracks perfectly encapsulates Dimitry ’s idea of exploring moods and experiences he has had in his life. The tracks are so powerful in portraying a message and captivating the listener that there is absolutely no need for words. The tracks vary from big rock guitar riffs and drums to an industrial eerie sound on tracks like ‘November Storms’ and ‘The Fall’. This combination of tracks on the album using familiar musical elements in different ways proves to make a very powerful and enticing listen.
Listen to a selection of the album tracks here-
Album track listing:
1 Mountain Dreaming 4:22
2 Keeper of the Groove 5:23
3 Ghosts on the Lake 4:18
4 Spring Castles 4:23
5 Sunshine on the Riverside 2:22
6 First September Weekend 2:58
7 The Fall 2:46
8 Skyflares 3:37
9 When This Day Comes 3:57
10 November Storms 4:08
11 Hectic Nightshades 3:15
TOTAL 41:30
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