ALBION

A friend of mine asked to borrow this album but soon returned it with the comment that it was just too boring and single-natured for him, and while I may not necessarily agree with the statement I fully understand where he is coming from. An issue I have with some extreme metal bands is that they forget the importance of contrast, so tend to not have enough lightness to emphasis the heaviness and here the reverse is true. The album is crying out for some crunching guitars and more dynamic solos, as otherwise it is running the risk of falling into the background. That is not to say that this is a bad album, not at all, but where Jerzy throws in the Gary Chandler-style leads it demonstrates just how good this could really be. Solid as opposed to spectacular.

No, don´t panic, they did not jumped to the indie rock bandwagon. At least not just yet. They still make their fine brand of great neo prog that Polland was famous for during the 1990´s: sypmphonic, melodic, highly emotional, with great keys and brilliant guitar parts (echoes of Gilmour, Hackett and Rothery can be heard). They even have one of the most underated, but still fantastic female singer in the person of Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec However, the level of the songwriting on this new release did not exactly reach the level of the two previous CDs. It is still good, but The Indefinite State of Matter seems to be keyboardsman Krzysztof Malec´s baby. He calls all the shots here and, believe it or not, Sobkowicz-Malec´s distinctive vocals, one fo the band´s best features are underused on this album. Let´s see: for such a short disc (only 47 minutes of music), two 10+minutes instrumental moments are a bit too much. Neither are that great either, and the closer, Fear, with its abstract textures and electronic treatment is definitly odd for their style. On the other hand all the other four tracks are excellent exemples of what they can do when they are playing as a whole band. Children Rhyme is definitly the highlight here, featuring one of Jerzy Antczak´s best guitar solos ever, powerful vocal lines and menacing keys. I should also point out that Antczak´s guitar playing is as strong and emotional as ever. He is one of Polland´s greatest, at least at the same level as the legendary Mirek Gill (Collage).

So, all in all, a very good CD. It is unfortunate that for a band that had released such brilliant works before, a very good album still sounds like a disappontment to me. None of the new tracks reaches the heights of The Place (from Broken Hopes) for example. Onde again, maybe I was expecting too much. I liked it a lot, but after five long years, The Indefinite State Of Matter, with all its many qualities, should be better.

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.

3(-), you know why. I've heard much better from Poland.

Enough ramblings about my quest let's focus on the music. Lush arrangements great guitar work gorgeous vocals inventive composing and never boring kind of sums it up in my mind. One of the really interesting Neo-prog bands in my humble opinion. I would welcome that kind of album any day and wish more surprises like Albion will turn up for me :) Marillion influences can be heard throughout like in a lot of Neo Progressive bands but Albion manage to maintain their own identity to keep our interest going.

The group has matured both as players and as songwriters. Their music sounds like an interesting mix of early Quidam and latter day Satellite, with some strong Pink Floyd overtones. But make no mistake, they have their own sound and Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec is a gifted and unique singer, in a country that seems to have some of the finest prog female vocalists in the world nowadays. Oddly enough, guest bassist Krzysztof Wyrwa is one fo the best features in this CD, with fine bass runs throught the whole CD.

The arrangements are varied and tasteful, with lush keyboards passages and some great guitar licks and solos. Those guys do understand about writing songs and make their music emotional and creative. The CD is a little short for my liking, but the band did not waste a single note, something really hard to hear lately. The second track is the 11 minute epic The Place, one of the most beautiful prog songs I ever heard. I get chills down my spine every time I hear it. This tune alone is worth the price of the CD.

I´m glad to say Albion more than fulfilled their promising start. Broken Hopes was one of the best new releases in 2007. Fans of early Marillion, Pendragon, Quidam, Satellite, etc. should not miss this terrific work. Highly recommended for any music lover.

After a short first track that contains Hitler his horrible voice, I notice again strong early Marillion echoes in the long and compelling second composition entitled The Place (almost 12 minutes): the guitar player sounds as the Polish twin-brother of Steve Rothery and the synthesizer flights strongly evoke Mark Kelly. Halfway we can enjoy a raw guitar solo with lush organ and in the final part a slow saxophone solo, this is obviously not early Marillion inspired! In the other seven songs the climates range from dreamy to often compelling with wonderful female vocals, lots of howling guitar solos and now and then a flashy synthesizer solo (like in Angel) or bombastic eruptions like in Once Upon A Time and the strong This Is The Way Where We Go (beautiful final part with exciting guitar - and keyboard work). The final track evokes Mostly Autumn: first twanging acoustic guitar with high pitched vocals, then a moving atmosphere with fluent synthesizer runs and in the end a sensitive guitar solo, simply wonderful!

For me this new musical meeting after many years was a very pleasant one. I like the modern and elaborate album with strong female vocals, outstanding guitarwork and tasteful keyboards. Incredible how many good progrock bands Poland delivers at this moment, from Riverside, Osada Vida and Satellite to Quidam, Exodus and . Albion! My rating: 3,5 stars.