KALPA TARU

Quite impressive debut album by this prolific (and yet not very known) polish band. The first track gave me the impression of another gothic metal band, with a non operatic female singer. But even though gothic and heavy metal are quite present here, there are lots of other elements too: symphonic keyboards, jazzy bits, folk, acoustic parts and eastern rhythms among them. The result is very interesting and shows great promise. The songs are short, but they are all very well done.

The group´s main feature is doubtless their excellent singer Maja Konarska. She has a fine voice that is strong and melodic at the same time, and she also avoids most heavy metal cliches during her performances, which is no small feat. But the musicians here are all very good and able to perform all the styles I mentioned before.Their songwriting skills and arrangements are still a bit green, but this is only their first CD, so I guess i´ll have to look for their latter day work to see how they developed through the years. Anyway, this was a nice surprise and something different to listen to, specially at the stalled gothic metal scene, where all the bands seem to follow a formula nowadays. All lyrics are sung in polish and it does suit their sound.

An interesting CD from an interesting band. If you like this kind of music, you should check it out. Final rating 3,5 stars.