Iamthemorning's Gleb Kolyadin to officially release The Outland

Gleb Kolyadin is dressed in black and stands in front of a brick wall — (Image credit: Alexandra Churkina)

Iamthemorning's classically trained pianist Gleb Kolyadin has turned the claustrophobic feeling of the pandemic into a stunning six-part symphonic suite inspired by prog, jazz and fusion. The Outland is officially out via Kscope on July 21 and in the US on August 11 – it previously had a limited release online.

The record – which will also be available on vinyl – was recorded between 2020 and 2021 when the Russian musician was trapped in his home country due to travel restrictions. He describes the introspective instrumental work as a way of creating "new worlds in my head, as a way of being able to escape."

"Over time however, this idea transformed into something much deeper for me. I’ve since moved to the UK, and now it represents a new beginning," explains Kolyadin. "A rebirth, if you will, and ironically has more of an escapist air around it and has been given a new lease of life. "

He reveals that The Outland of the title represents "a world within a world, assembled from disparate fragments." He's joined on the album by drummer Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree/King Crimson), Tony Levin (King Crimson/Peter Gabriel) on upright bass, and Iamthemorning collaborator Vlad Avy on guitar.

It's Kolyadin's third official solo release – his self-titled debut album came out in 2018 and included guest appearances from Steve Hogarth, Nick Beggs and Theo Travis.

Catch Kolyadin and bandmate Marjana Semkina live on June 9 and 10, when Iamthemorning open for Steve Rothery Band at Manchester's The Band On The Wall.

The Outland tracklisting:

1.     Voyager
2.     Ascension
3.     Cascades
4.     Mercurial
5.     Apparatus
6.     Hermitage

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.