ARTEMIS

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.