WABIąC CIENIE

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.