EGO

The latest release from Polish band Millenium is probably their most complete to date, with a great deal of work having taken place on he arrangements. The five guys have also brought in some guests on backing vocals, sax and trumpet but these have been used sparingly and consequently to great effect. There are times when I find myself reminded of the way that IQ also uses a sax to great effect, bringing it is just to add a further touch of class to music that is often quite Floydian and symphonic in nature. This is in direct contrast to "Dark Secrets" which is a bouncy romp with plenty of in your face guitars and keyboards. But, that in turn leads to "When I Fall" which starts off just with piano and voice. Music doesn't need great complexity to be enthralling, and that is definietly the case here.

Millenium are not only one of the top prog bands to come out of Poland, but are one o fthe top prog bands around, period. They continue to produce high quality work album after album, and this is probably their finest achievemnet to date. I have been lucky enough to be able to hear most of their releases to date, and hopefully this will be the one that finally breaks them through to a wider audience. If you think that Riverside are the only prog band worth knowing about from Poland then your musical education is sadly lacking, and this is an album that should be high on everyone's lists to discover. Symphonic, complex, immediate, accessible, beguiling and bewitching, who could wish for more? www.millenium.art.pl