PROAGE

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.

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.

ProAge trace their roots back to 1985 when drummer and Arek Grybek and singer Mariusz Filosek were in a band called Czwarty Wymiar. That band lasted until 1990, but then broke up without releasing anything. Fast forward to 2007 and the guys decided to form a new band under the name ProAge, since when there has been a fairly fluid line-up. They released their debut album, 'A Different State of Reality', in 2017 and followed it up with this in 2019. Here they have been joined by Sławomir Jelonek (guitar), Krzysztof Walczyk (piano) and Roman Simiński (bass) [;us a couple of guests in Małgorzata Łydka (flute) and Grzegorz Hankus (clarinet).

This is a concept album based around a person suffering from multiple personality disorder, and all the lyrics (at least for the one I have, I believe there may also be a Polish edition) are in English. This is neo-prog straight down the middle, yet with little in the way of the charm and naivety which made the movement so important in the Nineties. It all feels rather laboured, and at times almost formulaic, with little in the way of string ideas. Just when one feels a passage has promise with nice swathes of keyboards and some pleasant guitar it is ruined by the vocals, which are definitely the weak point for me. They just don't fit with the music, and I wonder if in concert they are more direct and rocky as Mariusz may well be a powerful frontman, but when singing in a more reflective and gentle manner he is definitely suffering. Not one to which I will be often returning.

Polish band Proage can trace it's roots back to 1985, and a then short-lived venture called Czwarty Wymiar that disbanded in 1990. Come 2008 and the band decided to have another go, and two years later they renamed themselves as Proage. Following a couple of EPs they released their debut album in 2017. "MPD" is their second full length albums, and was released by Polish label Lynx Music at the start of 2019.

Proage is a very good and well developed neo-progressive band on many levels, with strong compositions and competent musicians managing to get the best and the most out of the material they are exploring. Perhaps not innovative as such, but in general a strong band exploring quality material on a solid album. The lead vocals are a fairly major detrimental feature however, and due to that aspect of the album this is one that merits a check prior to buying it. Still, those who have a general fascination with well developed neo-progressive rock and can tolerate the lead vocals should find this album to be a really enjoyable affair.

The initial idea for PROAGE goes all the way back to the 80s when a band called Czwarty Wymiar (Polish for Fourth Dimension) was founded in Będzin, Poland (near Katowice) in 1985. Initiated by vocalist Mariusz Filosek and drummer Arek Grybek the band played for five years before disbanding but never released anything. Fast forward 18 years and the duo once again joined forces with the intent to carry the band into the 21st century. With the recruitment of Marcin Kwiecien (bass), Maciek Kwecien (guitar) and Marcin Kosakowski (keyboards). Although the band technically broke up in 1990 it remained on again off again through much of the early 2000s. Unfortunately the Kwiecen brothers would depart and the new replacements of Sławomir Jelonek (guitar) and Roman Simiński (bass) would create the final lineup for the band's first ever release under the PROAGE moniker.

This debut album was released in 2017 and contained two versions: the Polish language edition with the title ODMIENNY STAN RZECZYWISTOŚCI and it's English counterpart A DIFFERENT STATE OF REALITY which is a process most modern bands don't really bother to do much these days although the practice was fairly common for Italian prog bands of the 70s with a few others like France's Ange cashing in on the dualistic nature of language use. The music of PROAGE (i assume it's pronounced like PRO AGE) is somewhat difficult to categorize as it is somewhat of a progressive form of alternative rock with heavy guitar riffs, stellar bass grooves and a percussive drive that exists merely to accompany the stringed instruments. There are also dense keyboard sections that provide gloomy atmospheres much like neo-prog but there are also keyboard centered melodic hooks that sound like they borrowed from homegrown folk music sources.

A DIFFERENT STATE OF REALITY (or its Polish language counterpart) contains 11 tracks that are a mix of neo-prog much like the more modern sounds of Arena along with heavier rock heft sometimes even briefly entering metal territory not too far from the camp of early Riverside however PROAGE hasn't mastered the unique compositional flair of its fellow Warsaw based countrymen who created a more sophisticated mix off the prog, metal and ambience. The vocals of Mariusz Filosek are mostly performed in the clean neo-prog style with a slight rasp but they dip into the more bombastic metal growls on occasion. The album sounds a lot different with Polish lyrics and gives it a more exotic feel as the English language version doesn't have the emotional depth. The overall feel is that of space rock with Pink Floydian guitar solos breezing by. The guitars are generally clean and echo and augmented with an atmospheric backdrop except for when they burst into the heavy distortion of metal.

Overall PROAGE's debut album is a decent listening experience with the biggest problem resulting in the similarity between the tracks that don't find many ways to differentiate themselves. The ubiquitous nonchalant bass groove and space rock paradigm is only intermittently punctuated by the faster tempo antics of the harder rock and the occasional unexpected anomaly such as some sort of circus music. The underpinnings for a great album are definitely present but the band could've woven the compositions into more interesting pieces that delivered a wider range of musical expressions. Not a bad album by any means but it's not the kind of album that blows you away and beckons return visits. While the promise is lurking around every corner, unfortunately it is never resolved with that one satisfying track that offers a pay off. Despite the Pink Floyd references wrapped up in classical Bach and heavier Riverside extras, PROAGE falls just short of making an excellent album's worth of music magic.

Proage is a Neo-prog band from Poland that was originally founded way back in 1985. However, is a band really a band if it doesn't release any material? The story goes that they disbanded in 1990 and then reformed in 2008, finally releasing an album in 2017. After this kick start, the band has released their 2nd full length album this time only waiting 2 years. This album, released in July of 2019, is called MPD which stands for Multiple Personalities Disorder, which is the disorder the main character of this concept album has, 24 personalities to be exact.

MPD has a total of 13 tracks that range from 15 seconds to over 10 minutes. The total run-time is 66 minutes. The band is comprised of 5 core members: Mariusz Filsek on vocals (there is both an English and Polish version of this album by the way), Slawomir Jelonek on guitar, Krzysztof Walczyk on piano, Roman Siminski on bass, and Ark Grybek on drums. There are also 2 guest musicians credited on the flute and clarinet.

"Homecoming" starts everything off with an 8 minute track. Beginning with a short introduction with a melodic guitar line, the track soon gets quite upbeat and moves into a fast section featuring heavy guitars and a swirling synth melody. The beat moves to a more moderate rhythm when the vocals start supported by a bright synth heavy accompaniment. The vocals are good enough, but the accent on the English version is quite heavy, but that is mostly expected. The music moves into a heavier section as it continues, once again changing meter, tempo and rhythm to a more driving and solid style. The organ becomes supportive as the guitars pump out a rollicking solo which later gets replaced by synths. Later, the main melody returns with the last vocal verse. This track pretty much establishes the Neo-prog sound of the band which goes through a variety of sounds and styles as it goes along. But, being a Neo-prog band, the overall sound seems to stay close to a more 80's sounding prog, but with a heavy Eurpoean sound.

"Stolen Time" is a very short, transitory track, pretty much unnecessary. "Multiple Personality Disorder" comes next, and pretty much stays with a moderate beat and a simple sound, again with a heavy synth sound, but a mellow guitar solo during the instrumental break. The vocals don't really change in dynamic from the first track however, so you get a sound that sounds too much like the first track. "Is It In My Mind" begins with a more jazzy style led mostly by piano and some synth. The vocals begin and again you get that same vocal style which stays safely in it's short range and not enough dynamic or emotion. The somewhat repetitive lyrics get a little annoying, and so far, the music is lyric heavy meaning that it relies too much on the vocals which definitely need some work in order to bring more life to the music. The dated 80's style neo prog sound also persists, and as this track continues, it becomes more annoying. Finally, in the last few minutes of the track, there is a badly needed guitar solo followed by a synth solo that helps to bring a bit more life to the music for a while, but the steam seems to get lost before it ends. Another short track "Shadows Guide" follows which is a nice piano solo.

"Entrapment" is the longest track at over 10 minutes. The previous track just sort of stumbles into this more upbeat track, but by now, the amateurish style of the music gives everything a forced feel. After a vocal melody, the organ takes over, but barely gives off enough steam to merit a decent solo before the poorly mixed vocals come in again much too loud. The sound of the track tries for a dark atmosphere, but ends up sounding a bit ridiculous and false. The lyrics are not that great either. Repeating the words "Black Swan" doesn't make for a believable dark track. There are some good instrumental breaks that create the progressive sound, but the vocals always come in too often just as you are getting into the instrumental performance.

The album continues in this way, feeling clumsy with its flow between sections. The vocals don't help and the mix of the entire album just doesn't make anything believable or enjoyable. Unfortunately, there isn't that much here that saves the album. It would have been better with better mixing, less vocals and more instrumental sections, but overall, the feel you get here is a chopped up and amateur sound and style. This all makes for a difficult listen that is hard to take seriously.