WABIąC CIENIE

This is really a wonderful neo prog piece of music. Ok, some people will say there's also nothing new, but so what? If you like melodic, well crafted songs, great musicianship (with lots of tasteful guitar solos and keyboards interplay) and a fine female singer there's no way you won't be captivated by this band. It's all sung in polish but actually you don't really have to understand the words to be moved by Katarzyba Sobckowicz-Malec interpretations. This CD is a great improvement over their first two efforts (which were really one CD really, the second being a re-recording of most of their debut, which I believe was just a demo). Don't get me wrong, I bought them both and I like them, but Webiac Cienie really shows Albion going one step further developing their own sound and promising a great future. Great interplay between guitar and keyboards. Not one filler song in here.If you're into early Marillion, Clepsydra, La Tulipe Noire, Pendragon, Collage and other great melodic bands, you should not miss this one.

I got my hands on the latest two albums by Albion some time ago and will review them in the correct order. Biggest difference between this one and Broken Hopes is the fact that this Album was sung in their native language and (as the title reveals) the latter in English.

Albion plays enchanting neo prog like mainly the Polish neobands can. Also this one is really romantic like their fellow countrymen Collage (Moonshine !) one day introduced and was also practiced by Quidam, Anamor and Mindfields. And of course like also Collage's follow up Satellite is able to produce.

Another important feature is the melodic content of the music which is extremely high. All musicians are great including the vocals of Katarzyna Sobkowicz. The songs are well constructed and the production is excellent. All ingredients for a great and high quality album just about as you can expect neo prog to sound. So there's only one outcome for the rating: 4 stars.

After their debut Albion partcipated in some festivals and concerts, but they had to part ways both with singer Anna Batko and drummer Grzegorz Olszowski.Even so they begun preparing for a second album, but no label showed much interest in the band.Traces of their existence appeared in 1999 through the Lynx compilation ''Polish Art Rock vol.1''.Just when everyone thought Albion had simply dissapeared, the Polish group returned in 2005, having secured a deal with the Lynx label.With new singer Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec and new drummer Rafal Paszcz onboard they released their second album ''Wabiac Cienie''.

Ten years were worth waiting, as ''Wabiac Cienie'' appears to be one of the best Polish Neo Prog albums of the decade.With a crystalline production, a superb composing ability and the new members being absolutely great, Albion deliver an excellent wok, full of dreamy melodies, delightful keyboard parts, lovely female vocals and great arrangements.Based on the old-fashioned MARILLION sound, but always surrounded by the typical Polish characteristics, such as the native language, the careful acoustic lines and the light symphonic flourishes, ''Wabiac Cienie'' offers a romantic yet dynamic atmosphere through its listening, where the more sensitive parts are interrupted by strong guitar riffs, grandiose synthesizers and spacey layers.ABRAXAS, COLLAGE, QUIDAM and ANIMATOR are the first bands that spring to mind, thus there seems to be a lack of intense personality in this effort.On the other hand you can't simply skip by this excellent music writing.Changing soundscapes with melancholic and more upbeat tunes, powerful orchestral or spacey textures, moving themes with a deep lyrical content and even some pretty rich instrumental parts will satisfy every listener of challenging, melodic and well-crafted Neo/Symphonic Prog.

A fantastic comeback indeed.Among the highlights of 2005, ''Wabiac Cienie'' seems like a really overlooked album, that finally deserves a higher praise.Highly recommended to all Prog fans.

After the initial furry in the mid 1990s, Polish neo proggers ALBION lost momentum, unable to secure a more stable recording contract. Finally, Lynx music came to the rescue! In the interim they had lost expressive lead singer Anna Batko, but she was replaced by Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec, who was equally talented albeit in a more conventional sense. Even comparing this to the "Remake" remastering of the first two albums that Lynx issued in 2006, the production values here are in another league. The sound is less diffuse and more expansive, the keyboards are more dominant, and the influence of 1980s music on the band can be discerned at times. The result may not be plotzing with originality but the compositions, arrangements, exuberance and execution more than compensate.

The opening notes of "Motyl" call to mind the French group ECLAT from the mid 1990s, with succinct plucked guitars eventually heralding the ensemble. As much as early neo prog and COLLAGE may have helped shape ALBION, I hear as much integration of the continental and new age sounds on the sole instrumental piece, the sweeping synth heavy "Bieg po tęczy", romantic pop in the boombox friendly rhythms of "Szary" and the earworm chorus of "Inny" , Finnish symphonic prog in the addictive riffs of my favorite piece "Yuppie", and good ol folk rock in the sunny closer "Cienie",

"Wabiac Cenie" ranks up there with the best from countrymen BELIEVE, SATELLITE, COLLAGE and MILLENIUM. It is the only ALBION release to be sung in native tongue, which is just another reason to rescue this exquisite triumph from the shadows.

A band I've heard about for a long time but have never taken the time to really check out--even when guitarist Jerzy Antczak began his solo career in 2014 with the wonderful Ego, Georgius.

1. "Motyl" (6:30) after an impressive 90 second opening, things slow down to piano and synth washes supporting the entrance of singer Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec. Overall, the music and approach feel quite similar to that of 1995 countrymates QUIDAM--though perhaps a bit heavier, more COLLAGE-like. I am impressed with the composure the band is showing--as if they have all the time in the world in which to unveil their tricks. An excellent song--with no fluff! (9.5/10)

2. "Szary" (4:49) an interesting song with an engaging rhythm track at its core. Reminds me of the French band CHILDREN IN PARADISE. (8.25/10)

3. "Bieg po tęczy" (11:15) a long instrumental that opens with churning/boiling cauldron industrial sounds. At the one minute mark the band bursts forward into a fairly plodding (and spacious) four chord progression before going ART OF NOISE just before the two minute mark. Baby gurgling over washing synth sounds precede the entrance of Katarazyna's classical guitar. Nice. At 3:15 the band returns with a motif that is familiar from ALAN PARSONS PROJECT's "Fall of the House of Usher" suite. Nice lead guitar work in the fifth minute. Keys get their turn in the sixth and seventh. Nice sound, engaging if not very exciting sound palette. Spacey pause at the 7:00 mark leads to eerie pigeon take-off sounds before moving into a pretty section around 8:20. The music builds, thickens, from there, to a satisfying if unspectacular finish. (17.5/20)

6. "Yuppie" (4:59) nice engaging guitar melody and synth chord progression to engage the listener during the opening 45 seconds. Then Katarzyna enters, singing in Polish with some insistence. Synth solo, followed by excellent extended guitar solo, before the music thins to make way for Katarzyna's return--this time singing in a gentler, more sensitive, almost Mediterranean style. Nice song though nothing extraordinary. (8.75/10)

5. "Inny" (5:19) guitar harmonics. Heavy bass chord. Drums. Synth "voice" washes. Katarzyna. A formula for a nice wistful ballad. Very cohesively constructed. The only thing lacking is the "big hook." Katarzyna has a very solid, very confident and versatile voice. (9/10)

6. "Wolna (7:59) piano and synth "voice" support establish the melody line in the forty second opening. Then the full band, working to fill more of the lower end, enters to expand on Krzysztof's work--until it's time for singing, then every dials back or cuts out for Katarzyna to tell us what this is about. The instrumental section that follows this first verse is thick, like a PINK FLOYD set up for a Gilmour solo--which is exactly what proceeds: another great Jerzy Antczak solo. At 3:33 we open up again for Katarzyna's singing. The 4:30 transition into heavier, thicker territory is quite magical--with layers of voices assisting Katya. Then we move into a lovely little carpeting of Richard Wright-like Fender Rhodes play, which morphs into a little "Tubular Bells" before the full band bounces back in with its thick Neo Prog support for the final minute. Nice. (13.5/15)

7. "Cienie (8:10) a very slow, gentle soundscape opens this--and continues into the first verse of Katarzyna's singing. The, at 2:15 a horrible sounding acoustic guitar enters strumming away in a repeating descending four chord progression. Luckily, this section ends and we're back to the "Mercy Street"-like section for Katarzyna to sing over again. As the tension slowly builds, it's good: the horrible strumming acoustic guitar is replaced by Jerzy's electric guitar and then his soaring soloing. Unfortunately, for me this is the weakest song on the album. (11.5/15)

Total Time: 49:01

They have all the sounds, all the chops, all the tricks, mature compositions, and great engineering, they just lack that little extra oomph! or hook to take us over the top.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you're into engaging, well- composed, well-engineered Neo Prog.