ARCHANGELICA

Archangelica were formed in Poland in 2004, releasing the two mini-albums 'Archangelica' in 2007 and 'Where Are You Now?' in 2009. During that period they moved on from their original Anathema influences to something that was more melodic and immediate, without losing all of their emotional roots. They have also made quite a few personnel changes, with founder and keyboard player Darius Ojdana leaving his own band: in fact only guitarist Maciej Engel (who also provides keyboards on this album) is there from the band that recorded the debut. The rest of the line-up is completed by James Kolyada (bass), Chris Sałapa (vocals), Arek Gawdzik (guitar) and Peter Brzezicki (drums) while guest Natalia Matuszek provides some incredible additional vocals to add more layers.

I have played this album numerous times now, and am still at a loss as to how to quite describe it. There are some wonderful guitars, but it's not really prog metal, while there are times when it is quite emotional and dreamy yet definitely isn't trance (which is one of the words they actually use themselves to describe their music). In some ways it is almost neo-prog, but that isn't quite right either and the best I can come up with is Jadis crossed with Anathema with plenty of influences from Shadowland but there again I could be wrong. All of the vocals are in English, and it is a wonderfully polished and incredibly vibrant and immediate album that I have enjoyed immensely. Complex without being complicated, simple and harmonious this is a delight.