OMNI by Karfagen

OMNI by Karfagen, a band founded in Ukraine in 1997, was released in March of this year, one of the finest symphonic rock releases of 2025.

KARFAGEN (which means Carthage) is founded by musician and composer Antony Kalugin, an extremely warm and empathetic person, whom I thank for personally sending me this copy.

Karfagen is a predominantly instrumental band that makes very creative use of keyboards and guitars, employing both classical and ethnic instruments.

Symphonic rock of the highest caliber with folk, jazz-rock, and neo-prog influences.

This album runs for about 45 minutes across two long tracks:

OMNI Part 1 (23:03 divided into 6 parts)

OMNI Part 2 (22:42 divided into 4 parts)

Tracks that fans of long, epic suites, myself included, will love.

- Overture has a post-Gabriel Genesis style with great flutes and many tempo variations.
- "Storyteller Part I" features Richard Sinclair (Caravan, Hatfield and the North) straight from Canterbury with a splendid voice and his legendary bass. The New Wave-style guitars are beautiful.
- "Whispers from the Past" features beautiful vocal duets, remarkable.
- "The Spark" features beautiful vocals with a very '80s vibe that I really like.
- Then a beautiful, short, and melancholic instrumental piece with great keyboards, flute, and electric violin, magnificent.
- "Unchained" features great vocals and beautiful guitar solos.
- "The Cars We Play," the longest track, opens with the flute and features Kalugin, Sinclair, Marco Glühmann (Sylvan), and St-Père. Great song
- "In You an I" with a beautiful vocal not far from Fish's tone
- "Storyteller Part" closes the album, with Sinclair and Kalugin in perfect harmony

A beautiful and intense album, exciting and innovative, splendid neo-prog, with a lineup that would be the envy of many bands today and plenty of room for technique, yet without overwhelming the melody.

The Tracks
A) OMNI Part 1 (11.03pm)
1. Omni Overture
2. Storyteller (Part 1)
3. Whispers from the Past
4. The Spark
5. Masterplan
6. Mirror of Souls
B) OMNI Part 2 (10.42pm)
7. Unchained
8. The Cards We Play
9. You and I
10. Storyteller (Part 2)
Duration 45:45

Line-Up
- Antony Kalugin - keyboards, vocals, percussion
With:
- Richard Sinclair - vocals (2, 10), fretless bass (2, 7, 8, 10)
- John Hackett - flute (2, 6, 8)
- Michel St-Pere - guitars (2, 8-10)
- Aleksandr Murenko - drums
- Max Velychko - guitars
- Per Malmberg - voice (4), Guitars, bass
- Olha Rostovska - vocals
- Jean Pageau - vocals (7)
- Marco Glühmann - vocals (8)
- Bartosz Kossowicz - vocals (9)
- Daniel Ilyin - electric violin
- Viktor Syrotin - percussion