This 2008 album was the debut from Polish group Retrospective, and is a concept about the growth of a child into adulthood, and the loss of imagination, innocence and carelessness that comes it. I was incredibly impressed with the follow-up ‘Lost In Perception’, which came out in 2012, but it has taken me a while to look backwards, and I am glad that I did. Musically they have been heavily inspired by their counterparts Riverside, yet there are also elements of Muse and Porcupine Tree in music that is often dark and mysterious. It is strange to think that there are two guitarists at play here, as it is all about bringing the right emotional content to the music as opposed to crunching out the riffs. Łukasz Marszałek on bass is also very much a key player to the band, as he underpins what is going on with wonderful counterpoint, while guitarists Maciej Klimek and Alan Szczepaniak are often matching him. The production on the drums of Robert Kusik is strong and clean, while keyboard player Beata Łagoda uses many different styles, switching to piano when it is the optimum time to do so.
So, the music is both powerful and emotional, and it needs a very special voice indeed to rise over this, and here there is the lustrous rich and edgy baritone of Jakub Roszak. Many singers cut through music like a knife, thin and powerful, reaching heights that many cannot imagine, while here Jakub is a thick carpet – joined to the music beneath him, and with a power and breadth that cannot be contained. Will there ever be an end to the amazing prog bands coming out of Poland? I certainly hope not.
