EGOIST

Krakow is the place to search if you like melodic Neo Prog and Polish band Loonypark is another act from the city trying to be sidelined somewhere in the proggy map of the country.The band was formed in 2008 with Krzysztof Lepiarczyk on keyboards (formerly of Liquid Shadow), Sabina Godula-Zajac on vocals (also with Liquid Shadow), Jakub Grzeslo on drums, Piotr Grodecki on guitars and Piotr Lipka on bass, while Maciej Tomczyk contributes on lead guitars in five tracks of their debut ''Egoist'', launched in 2008 by Lynx Music and co-produced by the founder of the label Ryszard Kramarski.

Loonypark's style has strong links with the Polish Neo Prog movement, though the sound is less flexible than to say the approach of MILLENIUM or SATELLITE, while all lyrics are written in English.Musically the majority of the ten mid-length tracks are easy listening with a strong melodic content and very warm vocals, that lack strong, expressive feelings but sound good nevertheless.Pretty standard song structures are the basic core of Lonnypark's sound, featuring though some short extensions for a bit of instrumental work, containing heavier guitar moves, light symphonic textures and more flashy synthesizers.Most of the arrangements though are characterized by smooth and secure guitar lines, very soft keyboard passages and harmonic vocal parts by Sabina Godula-Zajac.So ''Egoist'' is basically driven by the deep atmospheres created by the band and to a lesser extent by some good yet limited instrumental passages.However the superb richness and the absolutely personal approach of the bigger names of the Polish scene are rather absent.

Good debut by this talented act from Krakow.Definitely worth purchasing if you like the more atmospheric and melodic side of Progressive/Art Rock.

Polish band Loonypark was formed in 2007 by Krzysztof Lepiarczyk (keyboards) and Jakub Grzesło (drums). They soon found the right singer in Sabina Godula-Zając (who had previously been in Liquid Shadow with Krzysztof and had sung with Millenium), and Krzysztof then looked to another of his previous bands, Meteopata, for guitarist Piotr Grodecki and bassist Piotr Lipka. For a debut album, this is a polished affair, but given that the guys had all been around the scene for a while that probably isn't too surprising. Unlike Liquid Shadow, here all the vocals are in English, which immediately makes it more accessible for those who don't understand Polish, and the music is also quite different in that here it is far more reflective, and not nearly so in your face.

It contains elements of symphonic prog, mixed with good strong melodies and sensibilities while also using some wonderful Camel or Jadis-style guitar lines. There is a real warmth to the keyboards, and Sabina has beautiful control and timbre that gives the music a depth and quality sadly missing from many bands. It certainly doesn't come across as a debut, there is far more power and passion, but all restrained and dealt with in the right manner. Guitarist Maciek Tomczyk, who later turned up in the Polish avant-garde metal band Luc Occulta, is a guest on this album for some of the songs, and it is hard to imagine that he later became more abrasive as here his guitar sings gently and sweetly, combining with some wonderfully dated keyboard sounds to create something quite special. Poland has long been a haven for some amazing progressive bands, and Loonypark are yet another strong act.