progvisions  review

intro

Last month Kamil Kluczynski, the owner of the small Polish progressive record label 12 Sounds Production, sent me promo copies of two Polish releases. The man is also the drummer of those two bands. I am talking about the bands Yesternight and Art of Illusion. The label is distributed by the German label Progressive Promotion Records. First we will have a look at the 2017 debut release The “False Awakening” of the band Yesternight. An album that was rewarded with several Polish prizes for best debut album.

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line-up

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review

The album has an atmospheric and narrative opening with the short title track “The False Awakening”. In the later part of this song you can enjoy a melodic and somewhat soaring guitar solo. The contrast with the opening of the next track “My Mind” is big. The music is powerful and drenched with heavy guitar riffs. This makes clear that this album is more than another Art Rock release from Poland. In the info sheet I read that the band is inspired by bands like Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Anathema. Well As reviewer I am used to read a list of interesting band names .. it is often only name dropping ... but except for the name Pink Floyd I think that this is a realistic list. But on the other hand this list could be interpreted as a reference to the more metal influenced side of the progressive rock spectrum. This is not the case, just listen to the following two tracks “Who You Are” and “Solitude”. The music has a more mellow and songmatically character and could be described as mixture of Art Rock and Progressive Rock. You can find melodic vocals, nice harmonies and interesting instrumental parts in the music of Yesternight. A song as “Who you Are” has even single potential. “Solitude” has a beautiful slow opening with delicate vocals and acoustic guitars. It is a song with diversity and great melodies. It is one of the highlights of this consistent album. “About You” has also beautiful vocal melodies but is more powerful and has even some Post Rock influences, just listen to the guitar parts. You can also find some excellent drumming in this convincing track. I love the transition part with the broad symphonic keyboard layers to the next song “To Be Free”. What a beautiful song ... it is one of my personal highlights. A beautiful sung ballad with great melodies, a lovely piano and melodic guitar parts. “Yesternight” is also a slow song with nice vocal harmonies and delicate and sometimes jazzy guitar work. Slowly the tension of the music is building up and you can enjoy fine melodic guitar parts. The transition between “Yesternight” and “Lost” is abrupt. Lost has besides the melodic vocal lines also the more powerful parts you can find here and there on this album. The album comes to an end with another highlight ... “Just Try!” With a duration of more than 11 minutes, this is the longest track of the album. All the above mentioned ingredients you can find in this wonderful track. Especially the diverse guitar parts are worth mentioning. The album ends in style with a remarkable guitar solo on a broad keyboard orchestration. Well done.

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conclusion

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