ALEA IACTA EST

I recently discovered this band, it was a nice surprise. This is a really well played album, quite simple lyrics, but rich in sonic nuances and very well produced. Behind this work is the compositional skill of Ryszard Kramarski (vocals, keyboards, acoustic & electric guitars) who makes use of four other musicians, but basically Framauro is practically a "one man band". Musically it is a work of Neo(symphonic)Prog with echoes of Genesis, IQ; Marillion, Twelfth Night... the final track, the one that gives the album its title, is a small masterpiece, very suggestive and very inspiring. Albums like this are welcome in this period in which "chart music" is terribly poor and and predictable. Alea Iacta Est is already a title that promises well, and this Polish band seems able to keep its promises.

Ryszard Kramarski founded Framauro back in the late 1990s and then Millenium. While he gave his all to Millenium (17 studio album releases since 1998), he let Framauro (more of a solo project) sleep until 2022. This is his second release since then.

1. "Like Father Like Son (Part 1 Father / Part 2 Son)" (7:48) a blues-rocker that, in my opinion, has more in common with classic rock bands like THE ROLLING STONES, TOM PETTY and the HEARTBREAKERS, JACKSON BROWN, DIRE STRAITS, SNIFF 'N' THE TEARS, and BONNIE RAIT and than prog. A good classic blues rock song. (13/15)

2. "My Beloved Songs (Records from My Shelf Part 2") (5:50) a slow, blues-guitar-driven song that reminds me of something from CORVUS STONE/COLIN TENCH. (8.6667/10)

3. "Dogs & Cats" (9:00) all the standard late-1970s prog/classic rock instruments are present (even a keyboard- generated bass). A bit of a lame subject matter--especially for prog. (17.25/20)

4. "Painter of Our Souls" (8:25) despite nothavoing the right voice, this one plays almost exactly like a PETER NICHOLLS-led IQ song (with some PINK FLOYD bombast in the chorus). (17.25/20)

5. "Lost in Music" (5:40) pretty piano opening precedes a CAMEL-esque set up and sound. This is Ryszard's ode to his beloved muse, Music. Nice job--with some nice quirk in the fourth minute. (8.75/10)

6. "Alea Iacta Est (The Die Is Cast)" (9:01) despite the "classical" piano opening, this is a blues rocker that reminds me a lot of both ROYE ALBRIGHTON (NEKTAR)'s 21st Century musical production and ELOY's releases from the late 1970s and early 1980s. (17.25/20)

Total Time 45:44

Bluesy prog rock that reminds me of the German Prog/Pop scene in the second half of the 1970s--the blues-rock Pink Floyd imitators like The Eloy, Anyone's Daughter, and even Nektar (and, later, IQ). This may be a collaborative product but it sounds very much like a one-man show.

B-/3.5 stars; a nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you like the bluesier side of prog.

The words 'alea iacta est' are credited to Julius Caesar, and means the die is cast, and is the title of the closing (and longest) song on this album which followed on just one year from the return of the name. It is the same line-up as before, except for the addition of Michał Kramarski who sings with his father on 'Like Father Like Son (Part 1 Father / Part 2 Son)', but in a rather more pleasant manner than Cat Stevens and 'Father and Son' and very different indeed to Harry Chapin in 'Cats In The Cradle'. There is a much stronger feeling of Seventies rock on this album than there was on 'My World Is Ending', with punchy guitar and the band starting to feel their way into a separate identity from TRK Project. If one ever wanted to know what inspires Ryszard then just play 'My Beloved Songs' where he names songs which mean a lot to him such as 'Nights in White Satin', 'Mockingbird', 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Brothers In Arms', 'Space Oddity' and so many more. This is not a new invention, BJH did an excellent job with 'Titles' on 'Time Honoured Ghosts', but there they used the titles to create the lyrics and here Ryszard brings them in to show how much they mean to him.

There is a very strong use of dated keyboard sounds on this release, which along with the musical approach take them back into the Seventies and the hard rock/classic rock/ progressive sound as opposed to being a straight out prog band, and certainly a long way from the Neo sub-genre which is how they are categorised on PA. 'Painter of Souls' starts on acoustic guitar until the rest of the band come in and we get quite a Floydian guitar line while 'Lost In Music' has rippling piano and feels much more like Camel in nature. In some ways this album is quite different to the 'debut', yet also very related and definitely sees them moving away from mainstream prog when they feel the muse takes them in a certain direction. 2022 saw albums from Framauro, TRK Project and Millenium while 2023 saw this album and another by TRK Project, so the guys were hard at work but never to the detriment of the music as this is yet another fine release which needs to be investigated.