REINCARNATIONS / REINKARNACJE

Sorry to say this but this album is one of the most boring an worst albums i have ever heard. No creativiness,not even a good clone of other important prog rock album. Here there are some monotonous songs with decent vocals but with very less emotive instrumental partnership. Instrumental arrengements are very weak ,too simple. Mostly ballads of neo prog pop that can,t motivate nobody to be very concentrating in hearing. May be good for ambient music.

I suppose other coments may be polish because objectively this is not a good prog rock work.

So as a lover of good prog rock work i can,t put no more average than 1,5 stars,1 star really.

The new millenium found the Polish Millenium in a bit of confusion with the addition of Piotr Plonka on guitars and the result were not the expected ones.However the band kept being very busy and productive with this stable core and recorded a new album in 2002 after a half a year process,while the leader Ryszard Kramarski opened a new studio to work with more comfort.''Reincarnations'' would see the light in double version,both in English and Polish language.

The English version sees the band orienting towards a more personal sound,leaving the rich sound of their debut and the confused ''Vocanda'' behind for good.Millenium now sound a lot like MARILLION on their ''Clutching at straws'' era along with PINK FLOYD hints.Simple structured compositions with an intense lyrical content and some fantastic performances by Lukasz Galeziowsky on vocals.The guitar work is simple but a feeling of grandiosity comes out of the notes.The organ and synths do not deliver any flashy passages,but they are there to create deep,personal and highly atmospheric soundscapes.The production remains a strong point,being bright and clear.The result is pure melodic and atmospheric Neo Prog along the vein of SATELLITE, MR. GIL or later COLLAGE.

This is a mark improvement over ''Vocanda'' and I am pleased to see the band experimenting with their style in a good way.Of course I can't say they created something trully personal,but ''Reincarnations'' indicated that the band stepped into the right direction.Recommended in general,but especially to fans of ethereal Neo Prog...3.5 stars.

'Reincarnations' is Millenium's third album, and is the follow-up to 'Vocanda' which was released in November 2000. Although the band are Polish, and it has been released on a Polish label, the lyrics to the songs are in English (and printed both in English and Polish in the booklet) which makes it very accessible to the casual listener. This is progressive music of a dreamy relaxing nature, which lulls the listener in and has been done very well indeed. Vocalist Łukasz Gałęziowski has a very melodic voice, and while the range is kept to a minimum he sings with great power and emotion. Keyboard player Ryszard Kramarski provides the backdrop and the harshness and bite comes from guitarist Piotr Płonka.

This is an album that has been influenced by American AOR, and based only on hearing the album that would be where people would imagine that the band hailed from. "Higher Than Me" manages to combine Emerson Lake & Palmer with Asia and Styx and comes out as a joyful rocker. Easy to listen to, but with lots of styles that mean that there is always more to get out of the album each time it is played. This is not in your face cutting edge progressive rock music, but rather music that can be really enjoyed by any lover of that genre.

Originally appeared in Feedback #68, Jun 02