YOU'LL BE MINE

Six years after The Indefinite State Of Matter (2012) polish prog rocker Albion is back. This time with a totally different line up. Founder member Krzysztof Malec (keyboards) is gone and so is the superb singer Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec. Thus making guitarist Jurek Antczak the only member to play on all Albions records so far. But instead of a whole new personnel, Antczak decided to recall several ex members to reform the group: so original singer Anna Batko is back to the fold (she sang on their first two releases). Another original member, bassist Paweł Konieczny also joined in and once official drummer Rafał Paszcz (who played on 2005´s Wabiac and 2007´s Broken Hopes) completes the "new" Albion. Guitarist Antczak handles all the keyboards duties here.

So, what about the album? The gathering of old members may suggest to some as a kind of nostalgia trip, but You´ll be Mine is nothing like that. The sound is different for sure, made it even clearer without Krzystof Malecs majestic symphonic keys, but that does not mean a lack of quality, much on the contrary. What we have is a guitar-led progressive record of the highest calibre, as the new songs are simply brilliant, with not even a single weak track in the whole CD. Anna Batko is in great form and her vocals have a mysterious and haunting quality that is perfect for the recent material. But the dominant figure here is Jurek Antczak: his guitar playing is absolutely brilliant throughout the entire CDs. He goes from delicate acoustic finger picking to beautiful Gilmour-like electric solos to crunchy, blistering riffs, all without losing any of the melodic flair, creativity and tasteful deliver he has always done with this band. If, for sometime, he looked like one of modern prog music´s most underrated guitarist, here he has room to fully show off his talent and versatility like he never did before. But he does that without ever overplaying.

With a good production and a strong rhythm section, this is one of the best prog records of the year so far. Songs like the emotional Does Everybody Count, the melodic Lady Death and the 9 minute epic closer Hell are fine examples of the new style, where inspiration, freshness and powerful performances were found on every tune. It may take a little time to fully get the new music - it was my case anyway - but once you get it you are hooked. As usual with Albion the album is not long, it has only 40 minutes of running time, but those are of the highest quality.

A real nice surprise and one of the best prog records of 2018. Highly recommended, specially if you like guitar led prog music.

At some point during the year gap that followed the lovably slapdash "The Indefinite State of Matter", during which guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Jerzy Antczak recorded two "solo" works, two long time members departed and two early contributors were welcomed back. Original vocalist Anna Batko's sultry sway hasn't diminished in 2 decades, not to take anything away from Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec who conducted herself mightily during that period. While both have buttressed the ALBION canon, the vision of the group has always been far more panoramic than "prog band with a female singer", and here it's Jerzy who delivers in the clutch. While his expressive and melodic guitars predominate, he proves no slouch on the keys, which subsidize the textures we have long come to anticipate from ALBION.

From the first bars of "Call it a Sin", reminiscent of fellow Poles BELIEVE, and its amorphous transition to the sweetly strummed and appropriately named "Lullaby", my attention was seized for the duration. This is a dark and at times doleful record in all the best ways but with luminescent moments that seem to bubble up from the spirit of its participants, such as on the paradoxically upbeat "Lady Death". It revels in transitions from near metal riffs to hypnotic passages in which keys and Rafał Paszcz's devotional percussion induce a sense that even "Hell" affords its own redemption. I'd like to think that the title's meaning is more metaphysical than physical, and more listener than individual focused, because, if so, I can attest that "You''ll be Mine" is a direct hit.