MOONRISE

The overall atmospheric vibe is very pleasing and I really enjoy the voice of Lukasz Gall from Millenium (another Polish band).

The solos on guitar and saxophone are really outstanding and add a nice flavour to the music.

The main man of this band is Kamil Konieczniak, and he plays keys, guitars and bassguitar. He's the composer and musical director. He adds spacey synths and really knows how to write good songs.

Some may find the music a bit boring. But it's not meant to be a metal-album nor a heavy rock album. The key element of this band and this record is creating soundscapes and atmosphere.

It's not 100% neoprog, because some of the music is really accessible. But as he said: it's the atmosphere that counts. And it works totally.

You can compare some of the music to RPWL, Pink Floyd and even Tangerine Dream.

Poland seems to be now one of the most prolific countries of the neo prog...I understand why many british neo prog bands love to present concerts there.

Well their 3d album ...and the experience shows fruits ,the musical concept definition is accomplished : a very melodic ..romantic...light neo prog.

Beautiful melodies...nice vocals ..good instrumentation..good arrangements.

So I Feel this is the response to British neo prog bands that are in the line of this prog music....lets say....Marillion(Hogarth era first albums) and Jadis...maybe Riversea too.

So I had a pleasant listening to this album.

Four stars.

STYLE: As many solo albums by multi-instrumentalists,this is generally a quite laid-back album full of easy-listening tunes and a good balance betewen instruments.I would call this particular style ''melodic soft Progressive Rock'',where atmosphere and melody come first,over any kind of complexity.Without being a virtuoso,Kamil succeds to perform well in a series of well-crafted compositions with deep atmospheric keys,fine rhythmic parts,some decent electric solos,while the bass/drums work remains rather unnoticed.The album contains extended instrumental parts of soft musicianship and singer Lukasz Gall seems the appropriate missing piece in the puzzle with his non-accented expressive voice.

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: Kamil seems to have been influenced a lot by the local Polish prog scene,his work reminds me a lot of SATELLITE.Parts of the album have a new age OLDFIELD-ian touch,solos are in the vein of PINK FLOYD,where at times early MARILLION come also to mind.The heavier guitar parts sometimes evoke ARENA.

PLUS: Very balanced album with hardly any boring moments.Despite its calm atmosphere,the album contains many changing tempos and alternating atmospheres.Nice guitar work by Kamil in places and great vocal work by Lukasz Gall.

MINUS: No obvious weak points,but this is unfortunately very safe music with no risks at all and propably it won't satisfy a more adventurous listener.An evident lack of originality as well.

WILL APPEAL TO: ...those after modern Polish prog,Neo Progressive and anyone,who prefers his music with heavy atmospheric and melodic doses.

CONCLUSION: This is another one of these cases,where an album makes a really pleasant listening,but doesn't leaves any great impression at the end.Nice melodic music,but very far from a trully interesting release.3 stars.

Just as with the debut album, (Lights From A Distant Bay) the musicianship is skilled with the focus on wonderful keyboards and guitars....the vocals are equally very pleasing yet distinct to the ear, sung in a beautiful English. The whole album is crafted to flow and it's a pity that it closes out after a shade under 1 hour. No fillers here.

Poland has yet again produced the goods in this genre. Quality music and dare I use that word "underrated"? However the music takes me to places in my mind i want to be at and it is that that gives me much personal satisfaction....just as Kamil Konieczniak intended no doubt.

This is a very good first venture, and there can only be better things on the horizon for Moonrise. Kamil resists the urge to over-layer his sound, keeping it just sparse enough and uncluttered. Wish I could use his kind of restraint. I've seen many other solo artists (keyboardists in particular) who make their music too lush, too layered. There seems to be a great effort to make up for the lack of numbers in a project with 4 times as many instruments sounds.

Not the case here. The passages are well-thought, melodic and very listenable. Not much to make you jump out of your seat, but that's ok. It just gives him more room to spread his wings next time. He has the creative touch, and the production is just enough.

3.5 stars

This is a musical project by Polish multi-instrumentalist Kamil Konieczniak and singer Lukasz Galeziowskiejo, he owns that typical Polish melancholical undertone but his vocal contributions are very limited on this CD. The sound of Moonrise is firmly rooted in the realm of neo-progrock bands like IQ and Pendragon. The 8 compositions are very tastefully arranged with some strong breaks, lots of flowing shifting moods, a pleasant variety, a beautiful and modern keyboard sound and splendid guitarwork (from sensitive, fiery and howling runs to propulsive riffs). My favorite moments on this CD are the intense guitar sound and soaring keyboards in the opener The Island, the alternating Help Me I Can't Help Myself (intro with wonderful interplay between Grand piano and mellow keyboards and then strong work on guitar and keyboards), exciting guitarplay in In The Labyrinth Of The Dream, a spectacular break during Antidotum and a beautiful build-up with piano and keyboards to a compelling final part featuring howling guitar runs, goose bumps! I am sure this strong debut-CD will please many neo-progheads! My rating: 3,5 stars.

A personal note: this is my final review for PA

Honestly, I didn't even know this is actually one-man band (and guest vocals) effort, that happened only when I checked the credits. What do we have here? Extremely POLISH Neo-Prog, soft and melodic, with tasteful COLLAGE-like arrangements and CAMELish guitar solos. The whole work is very much CAMEL- influenced, though I won't dare to call it 'a clone' or 'a rip-off', it's just clearly shows roots for inspiration in this case. If you're into melodic solo-guitar-driven Neo-Prog (French MIRAGE and Spanish DRACMA spring to mind too), check this one out, you won't regret. Recommended