We head over to Ukraine now, that brave and ravaged country. Perevod is the project from talented multi-instrumentalist Oleksii Perevodchyk, the guitarist of Obiymy Doschu. His first release was the single 'The Green Triangle' in January 2019, and his debut album as Perevod was called 'Sons and Daughters'.
Come the end of 2025, he has now released a sophomore album, The Kingdom of Forgotten Whales, an audio story, where progressive rock is combined with a fairytale. This is the story about three young whales who venture beyond the borders of their familiar ocean and discover a world filled with forgotten memories. It consists of one story divided into four chapters and eleven tracks in total and is available in both Ukrainian and English languages. You can support this fine project by visiting https://perevod.bandcamp.com/album/the-kingdom-of-forgotten-whales
It is nearly 46 minutes of music and narrative, and, as with other albums of this type, I provide here an overview, more appropriate than a track-by-track listing. In terms of the music, Oleksii plays all, with the exception of saxophone & flute, which are provided by Kyrylo Cherkashyn, and we have six people on narration, and you can see their details on the Bandcamp page (one of these, I know not who, provides a gorgeous vocal on The Kingdom of Lost Whales).
This is an uplifting album, and this musician can certainly play. Some of the guitar riffs he produces are fearsome, devilishly complex as well, with some sudden time signature and mood changes which have you sometimes checking to see whether the stream is skipping, and that is no bad thing, by the way. But that is not all in his box of tricks, because he has that trick utilised by the likes of Hackett, chops one minutes, emotionally uplifting joy the next. It is an album which keeps the attention throughout.
He has pastoral moments, the synths achingly delicate at times, and melodies feature strong in such passages. The second track, Memories of the Ruins, is infused with classic pop rock, the riffs thumping, the synths soaring, the lead guitar emotional and tearing the notes from the heart. I have embedded this delight for you below as a fine example of just how enjoyable this album is. This, incidentally, is the track I played on my radio show of 20th December, and it was very well received amongst the veterans in the chat room.
There is a symphonic prog sensibility to the synths as well where needed to elevate the adventure to a precarious moment. For fans of the organ in your music, check out the short, but incredible, City in the Clouds, which also features a guitar solo to die for, and the sax will have you weeping with blues-infused joy. The whales talk to us in The Choice, and after they do, the passage which follows is a heavy prog delight. In Their Eyes - Fear of the Unknown has some pretty heavy electronica amongst the riffs, intermingled with some experimental sounds. The Farewell is full of sound, and surprisingly dark in places as well. Prog fans will weep with joy with the mellotron singing, and the flute soaring, on the closing track. It is embedded below for you – pure proggy joy.
This is an album to listen to from start to finish. No breaks, no overt analysis, just let it be.
Obviously, for those of you who like to understand the words being spoken, and there is an inherent poetry in them, the English is probably going to be the obvious choice in the western world, but, in fact, I must state that I have so enjoyed listening to the Ukrainian version, losing myself in the sounds of that language, and allowing the poetry of a classic tongue to wash over me alongside the music.
Further, I might add here that I believe this is a perfect album to play to those younger ones in your family. The story is a delight, and it absolutely serves as a fine introduction to accessible rock music, far better, in my opinion, than having them listen to the commercial rubbish on mainstream media.
Lastly, please do support Ukrainian musicians. However, don’t just do it because it is the right thing to do. Do it because it is a fine album I have so enjoyed listening to and writing about.