EGO, GEORGIUS

To further fuel the wholly unsubstantiated rumour that Polish neo proggers ALBION were on the verge of dichotomy at the time of their 2012 release, "The Indefinite State of Matter", a couple of years later their guitarist issued a solo disc in which keyboard player Krzysztof Malec and singer Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec are both absent. Jerzy chose to take on both vocalist and keyboard duties though he employs former ALBION lead singer Anna Batko for backup, and his bearing is slightly towards spacey and heavy rock a la PINK FLOYD more so than on the ensemble recordings, particularly on the ghastly "Don't Need You", easily the worst ALBION related number I've heard, and the average "Mermaid's Song". Luckily, "Ego, Georgius" also co-opts influences from world music on the opener "Naive" and the exhilarating "Nebayilhaye", and from the percussive synthesizer technique of TANGERINE DREAM on "Heaven" and highlight "The Gods of Our Planet".

Overall this is an imposing, high energy effort that generally builds momentum by having songs run into each other headlong. It resoundingly that answers the question as to whether it was worth it from the fan's perspective emphatically in the affirmative, rather than with the more typical "meh" incited by rank and file solo works. Just to cement the love, the album closes with a striking folk influenced number, "Waltz", following on in the unstated but virtually unwavering tradition of the mother ship. It could easily pass for COLLAGE at or near their peak. Don't check out early as Jerzy's guitar lead near the finish, is one of those guitar solos that legitimately should be interminable. 3.5 stars rounded up.