CINEMATIC

3.5 stars. The description of the music these guys make sounded right up my alley so I took the plunge and have been listening to this for over a week. What I found after several days was that I really enjoyed it at the beginning but tired of it towards the end. It is kind of samey and long at almost 67 minutes. What I like about it is the atmosphere and heaviness. It's cool to hear the spoken words that pop up out of nowhere throughout this record. The sound seems like it's layered in the studio to my ears. It has lots of depth to it. Love the first three tracks and then it starts to go downhill for me and i'm done well before it's over. This is a Polish band who have gained a lot of praise for this instrumental album that is supposed to be film music for movies.

"Trip To Doha" is almost orchestral sounding to start then a beat with guitar takes over. Spoken words after 3 minutes then the piano leads before the guitar takes that role once again. "137 Seconds" opens with atmosphere with drums and more. Female vocal expressions join in around a minute. It's heavier before 2 minutes when the vocals stop. She's back as it settles again as contrasts continue. "Cinematic" opens with keyboards as a full sound kicks in right away. Nice heavy guitar too. It stops as horns (sampled) come in with vocal melodies. Spoken words follow. Keyboards are back then that heaviness. Great track ! Three excellent songs to open. "Old British Spy Movie" opens with piano and we get some sampled sax and real violin throughout. "Iceland" opens with picked guitar as a beat, piano then spoken words follow. The words will come and go. Nice bass late.

"Encore" has spoken words and a rich sound. Sampled accordion before 1 1/2 minutes. Female and male spoken words follow. The guitar becomes aggressive at one point. "Apertif For Breakfast" is mellow with a music box-like sound then a heavy rhythm takes over. The guitar solos over top then it's the piano's turn. It's heavy again after 4 1/2 minutes. Nice. "Spiritual Machine" has a good heavy sound to it until a calm arrives with samples after 2 minutes then it builds. "The Storyteller" features piano and atmosphere as spoken words join in. A change 4 1/2 minutes in with a plastic sounding beat and organ-like sounds. Then it kicks in. "Human Error" ends the album with spoken words after a minute and prominant guitar. Organ and percussion lead then the guitar returns.

There's so much here that I enjoy but not for over an hour. Take my rating with a grain of salt as i'm the only one to give this 3 stars so far, but this isn't a 4 star record in my world unless you cut it to my favourite 40 minutes.