Horizont-Summer In Town (1986)

The mere fact that Western influences were the seed from which a Soviet band called Horizont could create a musical tapestry like the one they did is not only admirable but also unbelievable. Let's remember that before the fall of the Berlin Wall, present-day Russia was the Soviet Union, a country of rigid, practically hermetic communism that rejected almost anything coming from outside its borders. Beyond these political and chronological considerations, the first work of this band, founded in the mid-seventies, is one of the most fascinating albums ever produced by a group behind the Iron Curtain. Founded in the ancient city of Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), the band consisted of five classically trained musicians, a fact that undoubtedly contributes to the evident classical influences in the compositions included on their first album, released in 1986. They were Andrey Krivilev (vocals and keyboards), Vladimir Lutoshkin (guitars and flute), Sergei Kornilov (keyboards), Alexey Eremenko (bass), and Valentin Sinitsyn (drums). A prime example of this is the grandiose "Snowballs", nearly ten minutes of majestic organ, piano, and string synthesizer sounds, underpinned by a coherent and solid rhythm section. Echoes of British symphonic rock groups like Genesis and ELP are present, making it an excellent composition that, while not entirely original, showcases the band's virtuosity and ingenuity. On the other hand, there is the hypnotic "Chacone" which, enveloped in an aura of melancholy and darkness, emanates great melodic bursts, while the final suite, composed of the epic that gives the album its title, is a much more eclectic cut, where symphonic sections, jazz, and atmospheric passages very close to space rock are given space.