Landscape is a Polish progressive rock trio that have been making music since 2008. The band consist of Potr Lniany (guitars), Mateusz Iskander (vocals) and Sebastian Wolf (drums). On this album they're joined by two guest musicians on bass guitar and on keyboards. The obvious influences are Riverside, Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Haken. Especially in the rather good opening track The War I hear musical characteristics of Opeth and Haken; the two guitar solos in this song are really outstanding, by the way. Follow-up Class Curtains contains acoustic guitar passages and again a couple of very melodic guitar solos. The third song Burning Ice can almost be characterized as hard rock as the typical guitar riffs dominate this rather heavy track. Trail Of Memories is a bit too soft and too acoustic for me; it's rather mediocre and filled with dreamy vocals. Through The Prism Of Time is a weird track filled with soundscapes that sounds like footsteps, thunder and lightning and lots of rather boring vocals and sometimes even some Celtic influences. It sounds like a 'heavy' folk song. It's not my cup of tea and what bothers me most is that I don't understand what Mateusz is singing about; his English is rather weak, to put it mildly... The title track is probably one of the best songs on the album as it is rather diverse with an outstanding guitar solo. All in all you could say that this isn't a bad album, but I've heard it all before and better. Maybe if these guys would work more on their own sound in the future then the next album will be a lot better. Listen and judge for yourself! **+ Martien Koolen Where to buy? |
