THE INDEFINITE STATE OF MATTER

3.5 stars, really. Well, after a 5 year break, polish neo progger band Albion release this new album. It was very hard for me to write a review. I´ve been listening to this CD for months already and the initial feeling of disappointment still remains. I guess my expectations were just too high after the level of excellency this band achieved after Wabiac Cienie (2005) and Broken Hopes (2007). The group was always a personal kind of favorite of the new millenium since they were one of the few polish acts that didn´t fell for the alternative/indie rock trap that plagued so many former fine prog outfits from that country. So, after such a long time since their last studio offer, I was waiting for something at least in the same league as Broken Hopes. Did I expect too much?

No, don´t panic, they did not jump into 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 quality 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 only unfortunate that for a band that had released such brilliant works before, a very good album still sounds like a disappontment. 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 have been better.

I was sorting through my music the other day and was surprised to come across a cassette release of this band's debut album, now the best part of 20 years old: I hadn't realized that I had been aware of them for so long. This is their first album for five years, and they are now down to being just a trio with guests, which in many ways is somewhat surprising given that the rhythm section has been outsourced as it were. But, it has to be said that in many ways this feels much more like a solo album than it does a band release. There are times when the guitar wails poignantly, and there are times when Jerzy even dares a riff, but this appears to be very much the album of keyboard player Krzysztof Malec. There are a couple of long instrumental numbers on here, as well as long instrumental passages, which in itself is rather surprising given that Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec has such a wonderful voice.

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.

After the relative beehive of industry around Polish neo prog group ALBION between 2005 and 2007, the band then entered a more somnolent phase at least from the perspective of recorded output. When they did emerge it was with a somewhat atypical presentation in the form of "The Indefinite State of Being", a relatively short release that was bracketed by two lengthy instrumentals "Particle Of Soul" and "Fear". Both are one part ALBION by the numbers pieces and two parts keyboardist Krzysztof Malec twisting rusty levers in his man cave. While that's not why we generally visit ALBION, maybe it should be. A host of theories could explain this shift: right now my go to canard is that the band was on the verge of imploding, which they did indeed do at some point between 2013 and 2018, and Malec and vocalist (wife?) Katarzyna were en route to an eventual split. Without enough band material, Malec rustled together session workouts sporting the usual blazing guitar of Jurek Antczak - including a section in "Fear" that borrows the NIGHTWISH toolkit - with his own somewhat derivative but still fascinating synth doodling to culminate in this offering. This would also explain why, even by ALBION's standards, they present like weird and wonderful cut and paste jobs.

Luckily, the middle 4 vocal tracks present the band in more comfortable settings. Incorporating the expansive and atmospheric qualities of DAVE GILMOUR, I also hear hints of fellow Poles BELIEVE in "When I see the Light". While Krzysztof Wyrwa is demoted to the role of guest on bass, his work on this track seems 110% vested. "Airborne" is the closest to the familiar style and certainly the highlight, returning to their well of fascination with space travel and Katarzyna's skill at hypnotic phrasings repeated with emphasis, culminating in a crescendo led by Antczak upon Grzegorz Bauer's jagged base.

While the state of ALBION might have been indefinite in 2013, the band proved that they could still toss together a collection that matters.