ANNALIST

Musically Annalist offer once more a dramatic, theatrical and pretty atmospheric Neo Prog with emphasis on the poetic vocals and the strong guitar work with the slightly orchestral synthesizers adding a vibe of pomposity in the whole album.For the first time the band would add Polish lyrics in the singing repertore, getting closer and closer to the sound of early COLLAGE and ABRAXAS.However the music of Annalist is a bit more haunting with darker instrumental moods and cinematic synth lines, reminding a bit of Italians BLACK JESTER.The tracks are not particularly long, but their length is good enough for Annalist to perform their style with comfort: Expressive (still just above average) vocals, symphonic keyboards, powerful guitar parts but also plenty of intricate and striking melodies.Vocal moments and instrumental passages are nicely balanced and pretty well connected to offer grandiose and deep arrangements.My only complaint comes from parts of the album, when the mood gets too melodramatic with very intense vocals, despite the fact that Srzednicki had obviously a limited vocal range.But the music is great with lots of inspiring textures, highlighted by Srzednicki's soaring guitar moves and the atmospheric keyboards of Bartek Gotembnik.

''Artemis'' is another very good album of 90's Polish Neo Prog, not among the very best from the country, but having definitely its moments with a slight touch of originality.Recommended in general, possibly receiving a warmer approval by Neo Prog fanatics.

I must say that I was positively surprised with the opening number of their last album: "Noc W Troi" is quite hypnotic and different from their usual production. I quite like the whispering vocals in this track; but more of these are to come. The mood is quite sad and repetitive during "Alchemik"; but again this song is frankly pleasant to listen to. The band is leaning more in the cross-over prog territories and has evolves quite well since their previous album ("Eon").

Some minimalism, close to electronic prog (almost like early "Kraftwerk") can be noticed at the start of "Dealchemik". The whispering vocals (which might have inspired Mariousz Duda from "Riverside"), and the dark mood confirm that this album is quite different from their previous ones. This change is more than welcome and is prolonged during the excellent "Samospalenie". Some touch of new wave is even noticeable in the longest song of this "Trial".

As I have said in previous reviews from this band, I preferred when vocals were preformed in their native language; and I feel exactly the same here even if I can't grab a word. The album is much more varied as well: what a pleasure and what a good evolution for this Polish band! But what a pity that they decided to call it quit after this album. I really wonder how far they could have gone.

For those who liked their neo-prog music, this album might well be a difficult one to approach. But it is worth the effort as far as I'm concerned. It is much more interesting and inventive ("Smierc Czeka W Samarze"). Upbeat, powerful: it sounds almost as a (good) prog metal song. Only the short "Astro" and the electronic "Alarm" are weaker.

"Trail" is a good surprise, a good album: seven out of ten. Three stars. Their best one for sure.

Unfortunately, this is far from it!

Actually, it is their weakest. Very average neo prog with no fantasy at all. Just as if the band had to release one album by contract: business as usual? Maybe. Anyway: it is not a great moment to share.

I am trying and having a hard time to find any highlight on this album. But I can't find any. Most tracks are on the short edge (but that's a usual factor for "Annalist"). So, don't expect any superb solo (being keys or guitar). There aren't any. Melodies are also quite absent and there is very little to retain from such a work. The last two instrumental tracks are quite useless as well to say the least.

Two stars is almost an exaggerated rating; but only one would be too harsh. You shouldn't bother though. This album is not a good one and the best thing for you to do, is just to avoid it. Their predecessor "Artemis" is their most achieved so far (even if not great).

This band is far behind some good Polish bands (most of them belonging to the neo genre).

The instrumental intro of "Over My Head" is quite convincing but again, the English vocals are somewhat ruining the whole which sounds quite symphonic actually. Again, keyboards are extremely pleasant and the guitar work during the finale is rather good.

There are also some more pop-oriented songs featured like "Gtebiej W Biel" or "The Watchtower". Although not their best, the former can't be considered as a weak track either. Again, the guitar parts are excellent. I am less positive about the light "Watchtower".

Most songs from this album are on the short edge and some of them could have been skipped ("Mostek Pomnik Postac").

"Artemis" is certainly an improvement in comparison with their debut. I rate this album with three stars because several tracks are taking the album on the down side ("Pod Wierzba" or "Pochodnia Z Miasta Bram").

Now, to tell you that the Annalist debut were great is another matter?Actually, it is a decent album with some (few) catchy items; but frankly: there is nothing from the other world in here.

The first moment of emotion is the instrumental "Spirit". Superb guitar work with plenty of skills, dynamics and to some extent maestria. It also shows that the band is much more performing while playing instrumental.

The vocal department is quite thin, I must say. But even some instrumental are not quite above average ("All Things Must Pass") even if some great guitar does appear for a short while. Actually, this album is rather disappointing so far. No grandeur, little feeling, little personality. Just a little of everything to be honest.

And here we go for the "Suite". Some twelve minutes of improvised piece (maybe to get closer to the prog style?), loose, incoherent, passionless and?quite boring actually. But the feeling is just the same throughout the album: to have the patience to listen to the full "Forgive and Forget" is quite challenging.

Poor vocals, weak melody, and alien passion: you name it! This is not a very good album in my standards. Two stars: average.

Much of qualitive progressive rock came out in Poland during the 90's,a country with an excellent neo progressive rock movement, and ANNALIST make no exception.The band was formed in early 90's (possibly in 1991) in Warsaw, featuring Robert Srzednicki on guitars/piano/vocals, Krzysztof Wawrzak on bass/vocals, Bartek Goembnik on keyboards and Artur Szolc on drums.Their first album ''Memories'', totally sung in English,was released in 1994 on Digiton Label.

If you have ever listened to COLLAGE and add a more dark sound,then you're really into this album's atmosphere.A mediocre production and the rather weak vocals don't help the band at all,but when it comes to music,we are talking about first class Neo Progressive Rock here.The guitar work of Srzedincki comes out of a seminar,very much in the vein of COLLAGE's Mirek Gil,offering intricate melodies,heart-melt soloing but complicated breaks in the style of ROBERT FRIPP as well.Combine this alternating guitars with the grandiose symphonic keyboards of Goembnik to get a picture of ''Annalist'': Classical-inspired themes and interludes for keyboards and piano, a few harpsichord intros and bombastic organ passages,all in mainly slow tempo, create a haunting and hardly descriebable atmosphere.Notice that the 12-min. ''Lunacy'' feature some trembing guitars over heavy bass lines to present something dark and closer to KING CRIMSON than KING CRIMSON themselves!You will certainly escape from this dark mood by a series of catchy guitar-driven grroves,added for good measure, another excellent move by this talented band.

If it weren't for the questionable vocal work and the somewhat buried production,we would possibly talk about a monster album.Nevertheless, ''Memories'' was a remarkable first step into the progressive world by ANNALIST and comes strongly recommended by my side for both Neo and Symphonic Prog lovers!

As is often true on monotonous albums, the first few tracks provide an essential synopsis of the proceedings, which in this case include mellow plucked electric guitars; samey atmospheric keyboards; little distinction between oratorial verse and chorus; and excruciatingly slow tempos. While this works well enough at first - and I do believe the initial 2 songs are also slightly fresher anyway - rigor mortis sets in quickly. A tangible pickup occurs on tracks 5-7 in which guitars are played with more intensity if hardly more variation, but the rest of the album mostly repeats the pattern poorly. Even occasional shifts into ambient and bluesy space rock a la JANE are unconvincing and too little too late.

A major step down from "Artemis", "Eon" holds the promise of a well conceived and evolved work, but ultimately seems to take a billion years to go a very short distance.

Basically the only thing that's not perfect in my list is the lyrics, which are in Polish, so basically I can't understand anything. However, this adds a degree of interest as the music feels a bit, how do you say, mystifying. After listening to this six times a row, I remember singing Śmierć czeka w Samarze, the repetitive chorus of the 9th song at school and in the bus without really knowing what they're saying. Later on I asked my friend what all the songs mean.

Back to the album. It's really moody. If you feel like laying back on a sunny afternoon and listening to sounds that aren't really something you hear from the radio or from most rock, I really recommend this album to you. It's atmospheric, addictive and well played. The songs are relatively short, so at least I get the feeling nothing is overdone, or nothing unimportant is included. I'm really fascinated of this band.

1. Noc w Troi: The first track sounds like it's played through a bathtub. The music is bubbly in a sense, and really strange at first. Basically the ambient guitar plays on a driving drumpattern, and the singing makes the song go on. Here, the music is the backup behind the singing. This is basically a very common procedure for them, so for a lyric fanatic like me this was spot on. The song gets on a bit later where the guitar kicks in and helps you go to a trance-like state. At a good mood this can be fairly scary.

Alchemik on the other hand sounds like it's the first song continued, though with a changed drumming and clearer singing. It's a lot easier song to listen to first, and if you want to, you could describe it as a bit pop-ish compared to the first track.

Dealchemik continues where the first left. The song is slow and melancholic in the beginning, then gets on again very well. It's a nice track, though not my favourite.

Samospalenie starts out as if it were some of the NWOBHM scene. A building drumbeat and guitars in the back. The once it gets on, it's a driving, electronic song that actually needs to be listened to with your head nodding along. This is the most ongoing song on the album, basically as I mentioned Ozric there above, think about Spirals in Hyperspace. A really explosive track in my opinion. The longest on the record too.

I wish I knew where Podróż II got the number to it (edit: now I finally do: it was a song from an earlier album called Podróz that this one preceeds). this track is one of my all time favourites, the guitar sounds like Steve Rothery back in the days of Misplaced Childhood. Really intriguing and controlling. There's lots of delay used of course, works fine. At times throughout the album, as in this song there's speaking used as if it came through a radio telephone. A very good choise to add to the ambient feeling.

Having heard Astro, I could almost swear, that there are influences of such artists as Marillion and Genesis. I could have sworn this short song was a Peter Gabriel song, but then the radio-sounds started again. As this song has no singing, it's merely speech and a tune behind it accompanied by the drums.

Labirynt start off like the normal Suede song, if you know this indiepop group from GB. The chorus keeps this up, but in the verses Annalist goes back to their own developed style. It's a really refreshing song. A bit faster in tempo, and bright, like a bottle of cold water after jogging. Really a welcome experience.

It's funny, thinking of what the songs sound like. Przemytnik, the next one, starts almost exactly like Steve Hackett's The Devil is An Englishman, and my suspections about influences get some base under them. However, the intro is soon over, and the singing starts. The song represents a literally stormy atmosphere with powerful playing and singing. The great ambience that carries through the album is still present, and they never really lose it. This one actually has a guitar solo, and a good one at that, while the rest have been based a lot more on singing.

Śmierć czeka w Samarze is my favourite track on this album, as you might have picked up already. The chorus is simple but dynamic, the verse is catching though played with talent. There's not much but good things to say about this song. It's very monotonous and great for capturing your thoughts and shutting them inside a box. It's really a song that gets you in a trance, that or you just want to add volume to your player.

Alarm starts with a scream. Or is it, in fact, an alarm? It's a drumbased track, very close to Astro in style, though of course the composition is completely different.

Coma's yet another slowpaced and melancholic song. If you wanted to describe the all around style of the band on this album in a few words, it would really be: ambient, melancholic, mystic and intriguing. Because there's not one moment that leaves you empty inside. In the end you just want to hear more. Or just stand still and start floating.

Truposz... wait, what, the train is leaving? Better hurry. Wait a sec, I think I just saw Björk at the entrance, forget about the train. Does that explain the song to you? Think: intro + drumpatterns à la Crying and you'll know what I mean. Stupendo!

Lekki jak wiatr is truly a nice way of ending a grand album. The melody is brilliant. And to not sound too praising I'll just say, it's a good song, something to carry along the style, all the way to the end, a very catchy chorus too, if you can figure out which part is the chorus first.

At the moment, I'm truly gathering money for a trip to Poland in order to buy all the Annalist records there, to add to the atmosphere (what an overused word by now). Of course I could order, could I? I'm not sure if they really are as big as they should be, this band has talent. I'm thinking between five and four stars. Let's see, well, it can't be essential, not all people like this kind of music, and I can't recommend it to anyone, but I have, to everyone who has asked about a fine band, not caring about the genre. This is music for a lonely man, or one that's lonely for just a while. At any point, it should be rated as an excellent album because that's what it is, and certainly nothing less. I rest my case, get this piece in your hands, quickly, trust me!

The band sings in both English and Polish, which helps provide variation in meter and feel, the Polish vox adding a sinister layer on top of the already Gothic atmosphere. If you glance at the sleeve notes, the band does play up the air of mystery with its explanations as to the background of the songs. Many have a surreal theme and suggest foggy nights during which the supernatural prevails and unearthly bargains are struck. "The Return" is the opener and it brilliantly sets the pattern of strong melodies, martial rhythms, edgy vocals and some fine lead guitars and keyboards. "Over my Head" is a very potent and emotional song, with a brilliant culmination in which the title is repeated several times in different keys. The sound of Annalist in these tracks is more bouncy than typical for prog, and I dare say even danceable at times, but without being kitsch or, gasp, disco. "Eclipse" is another highlight, and is probably the most truly progressive track. Several songs are a bit more pedestrian, like "Gtebiej W Biel", and "Juniper" eschews the band's bounciness for a more plodding approach that does not really sum up the album very well. But "Mostek Pomnik Postac" starts off in mundane fashion only to sneak up on the listener, revv itself up in the latter part and become something altogether delightful.

This album has to be one of the more pleasant recent discoveries for me, and certainly whets the appetite for more, while reinforcing the undeniable force that Polish prog has become. If only more modern bands would sit in the Annalist's couch.

If you like neo prog bands, and want to explore something new in this genre, I recommeded it. It may take sometime to the music to 'sink in', but it's well worth it. It's not really a masterpiece, but it's one fo those records that grows on you everytime you listen and that's what progressive is all about, isn't it? For that reason my rating can not be below 4 stars. A nice surprise.