ARTEMIS

Evoking memories of Polish band "COLLAGE", ANNALIST play a symphonic prog with some tasty melodies and instrumentation. This album is really split in two with 50% of the lyrics being sung in English and the remainder in Polish. Aside from the rather uninspiring lyrics the singing is very well done (Robert Srzednicki) who actually reminds me at times of the voices of BARCLAY JAMES & HARVEST. Musically ANNALIST play a lighter neo prog style of music with great keyboard runs and excellent guitar, bass and drum interplay. Highlight clearly for me is the song "Eclipse" which has a wonderful and dark bite to it exposing some grand instrumental work.

While most modern prog bands take their cues from the 1970s, or at least from 1980s bands of their ilk, I hear more than a few influences of 1980s rock in Annalist, and the result is an altogether refreshing blend. Chiefly it is the beat and pace of some of the material and the industrial undertones that remind me of bands like the Clash, along with a certain degree of posturing. Yet this can justifiably be called a neo prog album, with nods in the direction of that genre's pioneers, if you will, as well as Polish contemporaries like Collage.

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.

I was not really impressed by their debut album "Memories" released one year prior this sophomore work. This one sounds a bit better though: fine keyboards mainly. The opener "The Return" is very well achieved except the vocal department which is quite weak. Actually, Robert Srzednicki is much better when he sings in Polish (« Aniot I Duch » for instance). The problem with this song is that it sounds as unfinished, loose. The whole is collapsing into some sort of chaos. What they have to do is probably combining the great musical moment of the opener with some Polish vocals. Let's hope it does happen ?

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").

Annalist surprised the prog audience, when they released a sophomore album less than a year after their debut.There were no line-up shakes or style liftings, but the important fact was that they had signed with Mieczyslaw Stoch's rising Ars Mundi label, the one that would become one of the major distributors of Polish Prog worldwide, ''Artemis'' being only the second work in the label's catalog.

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.