HOPE DIES LAST

Over the years the band has experimented with bringing in a saxophonist on various albums, and here the quintet of David Lewandowski (vocals), Piotr Płonka (guitars), Krzysztof Wyrwa (bass), Grzegorz Bauer (drums) and Ryszard Kramarski (keyboards, acoustic guitars) have been joined by Łukasz Płatek (flute, tenor saxophone) to add nuances here and there. This is the second album with David on vocals and it sounds like he is starting to settle in and understand his role in the band as he certainly has much more confidence. Of course, the rest of the guys have been playing together for years, and it shows. Ryszard has allowed himself to bring in some nice old-style organ sounds here and there which definitely add to the ambience, while Piotr continues to demonstrate his love of providing proper rock guitar when the time is right with solos and styles which would to be out of place in a much heavier setting, but somehow are also quite right here.

One of the highlight is "To Err Is Human", where the drums keep changing pattern, the fretless bass is massively complex and warm, we get rock guitar and acoustic strumming, piano, dated keyboards and modern, all which build to a climax where everything drops away and the vocals are very much front and centre. The sax adds some nice touches, but is also absent for large parts, and this feel very much like a band who know exactly what they want to portray and understand just what they need to do to get there. There is a definite polish and refinement in everything are doing, and eighteen albums in they are showing no sign at all of slowing down as there is the impression this is a band with still a very great deal to prove and are enjoying being at the top of their game for more than two decades. In many ways this is one of the most enjoyable albums I have heard from the Polish proggers who continue to wave the neo prog for all to see, showing it is very much a thoroughly enjoyable sub-genre of the scene, even though there are still purists who look down their nose at it.

If you have yet to come across Millenium then this is a very good place to start indeed as it is packed with finesse and style