KATHARSIS

I've only heard one other album by Niemen, but it's pretty obvious Katharsis stands out in his discography. A very electronic album, just as much if not more electronic as anything coming out of Germany at the time. Czeslaw is the only musician here, playing mostly keyboards but also some percussion, guitar and vocals. The main instruments here, from what I've read, are MiniMoog, EMS Synthi and Mellotron.

"Odkrycie Nowej Galaktyki" has good funky bass synth and echoed/delayed synth. Some elctronic percussion. Love the sound of the synths at the end. "Mleczna Droga" has more good bass synth sound with hi-hat. Then some echoed spacey synth. "Planeta Ziemia" starts with wind sounds. Rattling and crackling sequencers. Nice Mellotron halfway before synth solo. "Fatum Pieczec" are two seperate songs on the version I heard. The former is synths with some guitar and Mellotron; the later has paused synths at the start, then a children's music box. Phased percussion, then weird synth solo. Then the sounds of people in a resturant. "Z Listu Do M." is one of the best songs here. A little bit of phased guitar and percussion. Some vocals. Repeated synth parts through most of the song. Scat singing near the end.

"Proba Ucieczki" has an almost harmonica sounding synth. Lower notes sounds like sax. Then Aphex Twin-style bass synth and repeated electronic beat. Some vocal noises. Synths that sound like xylophone. The title track begins with bubbling synths. Machine like noises from sequencer. Great bass synth. Another synth solos over top. Near the end more synths. "Epitaflium (Pamieci Piotra)" starts with cymbals. Then hymn-like singing with Mellotron and electronic bass drum sound. Spoken word part over halfway through. Cymbals at the end.

The version of this album I heard has a bonus song not listed here. "Dorozka na Ksiezyc" is better than half the songs on the album. Starts with percussion then great bass synth. Then flute sounds and funky synths. Some echoed/delayed piano-like synth. More funky synths. This is a one-man-band album and a good one. If you like electronic prog, you will most likely enjoy this album. I would give this album 3.5 but it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. So 3 stars it is.