OVER AND OUT

"Over and Out" is the fifth full-length studio album by Polish progressive rock act Collage. The album was released through Mystic Production in December 2022. Collage formed in 1985 and released four studio albums before disbanding in 2003. After the demise of Collage, some members formed Satellite and released four albums with that project before Collage was revived again in 2013. Initially in the same quintet lineup who recorded the 1995 "Safe" album (which was the last Collage album before they disbanded), but lead vocalist Robert Amirian and guitarist Mirek Gil were soon replaced by Bartosz Kossowicz and Michał Kirmuć respectively.

So 27 years down the line from the last Collage album and 19 years since Collage disbanded, what does a new Collage album sound like? Both Amirian and especially Gil were after all pretty important parts of the sound of Collage. "Over and Out" opens with the 21:50 minutes long title track, and although Kossowicz has a different voice and singing style to Amirian, Collage still very much sound like themselves. Melodic neo-progressive rock with both subtle melancholic moments and more bombastic/dramatic epic atmospheres (artists like Marillion, Pendragon, and Arena are valid references). They´ve become a bit more progressive oriented over the years though and the tracks on "Over and Out" are generally a bit more complex in structure and also feature more diverse songwriting than what was the case on the previous releases.

I don´t know what I was expecting from "Over and Out", because Collage didn´t exactly go out with a bang with the relatively powerless and anonymous "Safe" album, but any fears that "Over and Out" wouldn´t deliver are immediately swept away when listening to the album. Collage are back with a vengeance...high level musicianship (Kossowicz is a great replacement for Amirian), a top notch production job, and some memorable and intriguing songwriting are the ingredients which make up "Over and Out". Fans of neo-progressive rock are recommended to take a listen to this release. It features a good balance beween melodic pop/rock-oriented neo-progressive rock elements and more challenging and adventurous progressive rock elements. A high quality release through and through and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

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