Short Reviews [Victor Go - 2023 - "In a Trap of Anticipations"]

It has been a few years since I last heard from Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist Victor Go, but a few months ago he released his latest album. ‘In A Trap of Anticipations’. I was not a huge fan of the one album of his I had reviewed previously, 2020’s ‘The Leap, so I was not expecting great things of this, but I must confess to being quite surprised. There are two drummers sharing duties, two cellists contributing to four of the tracks and a bassist on three, but everything else is by Victor, including the vocals. The vocals were something I did not enjoy on ‘The Leap’, but here they are not nearly as much of an issue, and I found I was soon enjoying this crossover prog release. Victor says he is influenced by a wide range of genres especially rock (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen), progressive rock (Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Emerson Lake & Palmer), and jazz (Pat Metheny, Al Di Meola), but here he appears to have been influenced mostly by the more commercial aspects of the first band mentioned, along with the likes of GTR and 3. Auto tune is still apparent within the vocal lines but here it feels far more like part of a modern production as opposed to grating. There are 12 songs on this album, which lasts slightly more than an hour, and there is nothing which stays for very long as it concentrates on middle of the road crossover prog with little in the way of edge as it drifts in and out of modern symphonic. There are times when this is quite Glass Hammer in style, but that is probably more to sharing the same influences as opposed to taking anything from them directly. It also has a very Eighties American feeling to it, more Rabin than Anderson, which is very easy to listen to without ever falling into the trap of being too full of sugar. I have no idea what circumstance this was recorded under, and even whether Victor is currently in Ukraine, but I cannot imagine it was easy wherever he is. Of the two albums of his I have heard this is easily the superior, and one I enjoyed listening to a great deal while never being truly essential. I am looking forward to the next one already.