ARTEMIS

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").