BARO PROG – PROG-JET IV AIONVERSE (MaRaCash Records) (DL & CD) (2025)

This is Baro Prog’s fourth album, a ‘rock opera’ based on eight characters by Alberto Molesini AKA Baro with fourteen guest players including Heather Findlay (Mostly Autumn, Ayreon) and Iacopo Meille (Tygers of Pan Tang). The music is described as “mature progressive rock with jazz, techno and world music contaminations, extensive use of vocal polyphonies with the aim of making complex compositional and sound architectures usable and fluent”. You can certainly hear echoes of Yes and ELP on opening track ‘Creators Farewell’. PFM and King Crimson are also touchpoints in this ambitious music but I also thought of U.K. on the 13 minutes long ‘Flow of Life’ and there’s a nod to Gentle Giant in the multi-part vocal harmonies which give way to Heather Findlay on the seven minutes mark before returning again in a masterful tapestry of sound. The three part ‘Crossing Pathways’ sums up what Baro is all about distilling their wonderful prog heritage into a refreshing and aspirational melange of sound with space for some palatial soloing and self-expression by the protagonists. An album that will reward repeated listening there is much for prog heads to enjoy here. A 20-page booklet also embellishes the musical journey into the “timeless dimension of Aionverse”: another reason to recommend this album.