4.WYMIAR

PROAGE is a Polish group founded in 1985, dissolved, reformed in 2008, line-up changing until 2016. Three albums are coming out including this next "4th dimension" from January 1st. Soundings of metal, rock, pop, a little new-wave, art-rock in fact where the progressive wanderings arrive without omen, a mixture of FM, climatic and spatial titles. An album rather complicated to read but strewn with unforgettable and intense moments; tunes so varied that I cannot provide you with a particular musical genre. Come on, let's go for the last ... or the first column of the year. "System" starts with a rock-hard sound with keyboards present, we immediately notice the voice sung in Polish; a well sustained riff and a solo keyboard; the voice is choppy, the air well rhythmic on greasy and nervous rock, brief hard rock fusion and some oriental notes. "W Cieniu Izolacji" follows on a more pop-rock sound there, a little memory of what NENA was doing in his time at the time of "99 Luftballons" with here again a beautiful rhythmic, fresh and jovial synth solo; but I'm looking for the prog side still there; hit title more than anything else. "Człowiek Z Wysokiego Zamku" and a beautiful title with a soaring atmospheric intro, synth and sax that denotes the beginning of the album; then mounted with the bass on a sound mixing riff and musical tracks tinged with keyboards; we are more on a melodic prog track of fact with a finale on a delirious aerial saxo stange of any beauty. A simple title that stays in memory quickly, beautiful piece. "Sensorium" for a title that seems to come from the cold Scandinavian regions, a little spleen, serious acoustic guitar, text limited to phrasing in their native language, also reminding us that it is not only English that can be sung. Malgorzata's flute brings calm, astonishing fullness and magnifies the voice. "4th Dimension" and one, the centerpiece of the album: sung intro, start of a sound like coming from another group, the instruments are well in place and leave in modern progressive rock without concession; the nervous synth, bringing the rhythm, helped by the energetic bass; solo of this synth then arrival of a sax taken as ambient instrument just behind. Note the text in English otherwise the singular phrasing of Mariusz still seems to be in Polish. The progression starts with an Andalusian tune for a few moments with the guitar, then on Canterbury fringes, on GENTLE GIANT, on KING CRIMSON with this sax put forward in this way; a bit of jazz-rock even. Moving moving sequence with synth pads and an immense Slawomir Gilmourian guitar solo; paf, jazzy delirium, synth, drums then it starts in a duel of all the instruments with even a drum solo, the schizoid sax at will then jazzy. Return of the voice, the flute for a smooth ending, well what you might think, but we are dealing with a change of pace with hard riffs, nasty and always those omnipresent keyboards; the finale ends with the enhancement of the clearer voice on a pompous piano; white is still part of the sound while "Wyspa Czasu" tumbles with a drenched rock, rock prog metal tune; again the very noticed presence of the synth in the background musical line, then a guitar solo by guest Janek Mitoraja (OSADA VIDA), which goes well on a prog metal tune here, nervous and enjoyable, confusing like the other titles. PROAGE, do not forget them just for this masterpiece coming from elsewhere out of time, PROAGE or the uncompromising sound with the omnipresent synth of Krzysztof, the expressive voice of Mariusz, a wandering in the 4th dimension speaking of the bad moment of time through the tasting of a cup of tea; singular harmonies that can start with the progressive of the 70's, the revival of the 80's and 90's, heavy riffs as well as acoustic passages; a record that struck me with this daring fusion of various sounds.

This is the third album from Polish band ProAge, and although not a concept as such is thematically based around time, with the title translating to '4. Dimension'. I was not a fan of the last album, and in particular the vocals, and I know that I was not the only reviewer to feel the same way, so I was not really looking forward to this, yet ended up being pleasantly surprised. The band is the same line-up as last time, although they have now added a saxophonist to the group, but somehow this is much more together and structured than it was previously. Some of the songs are in Polish, some in English, and it seems like a very different band indeed, definitely feeling much more like a unit who have been working together and know what they want to achieve.

They are firmly based in neo-prog, yet there are times when they move into crossover, with "Człowiek Z Wysokiego Zamku" having far less rock. We even get an epic in the title cut, which is more than 28 minutes in length. This also sees the use of a guest flautist and contains some nice driving sections which are early Seventies with strong organ, alongside other passages that are far more sedate and restrained. It seems to me that ProAge are on a journey, and while there are still times when they need direction (no-one needs a drum solo on a studio album), they have definitely moved positively since the last release. I came away pleasantly surprised, and if the next release shows as much progress as this one, then it should be of great interest.