NOWY HORYZONT

At this early point of its career SBB started touring in West Germany with great success, followed by live shows in their homecountry as well as in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and even Sweden.The next step was to release their first studio album, which was finally recorded between September 74 and January 75' in Polish Radio and at the studios of Polskie Nagrania, both located in Warsaw.The album was entitled ''Nowy horyzont''.

You can forget about the total and endless improvisations of the debut, as SBB come up with a well-structured and quite personal sound in ''Nowy horyzont'', although a loose feeling is still evident in the arrangements.The first side contains four short- to mid-length tracks, where the group shows an ability to blend the groovy Heavy Rock with a keyboard-based Psychedelic Prog and the instrumental compositions are characterized by an intense power.The pounding bass lines of Skrzek meet his spacey keyboard solos and he is accompanied by the mature guitar playing of Anthimos and the solid drumming of Piotrowski.The strong doses of dynamic grooves and organ solos guarantee a very energetic style overall.The sole black hole seems to be ''Ballada O Pieciu Glodnych'', actually a narration of Skrzek with psych-sounding percussions and harmonica in the background.

The second side sums up the presented style of SBB in one composition, the 20-min. ''Wolnosc z nami''.Opening with Skrzek's emphatic piano, it continues with the vocal exercises of the same person before turning into the familiar style of SBB.The careful guitar of Anthimos is mixed with Skrzek's nice piano/bass/keyboard work in some minutes of more melodic delivery.The second part of the track shows why SBB were also an Avant-Garde act.Piano, synth- and vocal effects deliver an outlandish soundscape, before the trio returns with its heavy force of bass, guitars and drums in full display.The closer is a beautiful melancholic performance by Skrzek on piano.

With ''Nowy horyzont'' SBB open a new chapter in Polish Rock.Very flexible and dramatic style with both atmospheric and dynamic passages, not always succesful or flawless but definitely very attractive.Recommended.