The Poles of 'Collage' return to the forefront of the progressive rock scene with a new album, 'Over And Out', the last album 'Safe' dating back to 1995. Meanwhile, 'Wojtek Szadkowski' had gone create 'Satellite' with 4 albums and, in 2016, 'Collage' resumed activity with three of the members of the formation who released the very good 'Moonshine' in 1994 ('Krzysztof Palczewski' on keyboards, ' Piotr Mintay Witkowski' on bass and 'Wojtek Szadkowski' on drums), the rest of the band now consisting of vocalist 'Bartek Kossowicz' and guitarist 'Michal Kirmuc'. This unexpected new album from the Poles is firmly rooted in a dense and inventive progressive that merges several decades of this style, ranging from the 70s with reminiscences of bands like 'Genesis' to the present day, the closest references being 'Marillion', 'IQ' or even 'Arena'.
The album begins in style with the imposing title track of nearly 22 minutes which is a progressive saga with all the ingredients that one wishes to find in this kind of river composition and each artist brings his stone to the edifice to build this dense and inventive mountain which in turn has influences from 'Genesis' and 'Marillion'. 'Bartosz Kossowicz' accompanies us with a very expressive song that he modulates according to the intensity of the moment and 'Krzysztof Palczewski' shows all his talent at the instrumental level, the keyboards imposing their omnipresence by bringing a grandeur to this title, without forget the rhythm section composed of 'Piotr Mintay Witkowski' and 'Wojtek Szadkowski' which surfs on multiple changes of tempo and intensity. Less long but just as progressive in construction, 'What About the Pain' continues in these sound contrasts with still very catchy melodic lines, the alternations of sung parts and instrumental sections being well balanced and the children's choirs in the second part being a pure delight. With 'One Empty Hand', the piano accompanies us for a few moments with a very beautiful piano/voice duo, then the title gains momentum with a remarkable drum accompaniment bringing an enormous force to the energetic sections. Follows 'A Moment, A Feeling' which develops over 13 minutes a new progressive epic in which, after an atmospheric introduction, 'Bartosz Kossowicz' conveys real emotion in his singing and makes me think of 'Alan Reed' with 'Pallas' in the magnificent album 'The Dreams Of Men' from 2006, then, we walk in a magnificent sound labyrinth with multiple rhythmic changes, remarkable instrumental sections and a melodic theme returning in several places and bringing an extraordinary force to the whole. And it is with 'Man in the Middle' which sees the participation of 'Steve Rothery' that the album ends on a slow tempo with a magnificent melodic first part, the piano/voice duo interspersed with Steve's guitar solos being a real magical moment and the long instrumental finale repeatedly triggering this shiver so characteristic of intense listening happiness, and for my part, bringing the same emotions as that of 'Comfortably Numb' by the 'Floyds' with this feeling of strength quiet.
In summary, this new album by the Poles of 'Collage' is a progressive must-have which is filled with an extraordinary richness and density and which is revealed, little by little, listen after listen, which should certainly make 'Over And Out' a contender for a place of choice in the ideal discotheque of a good number of progressive rock fans... | |
