Millenium - 2024 - Souvenir From Holland

(75:00; Lynx Music)






















Easter 2023 saw the ‘Progdreams X’ festival, held at  De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands. One of the highlights on the second day, which was headlined by Solstice, were Millenium who have now made their set available in different formats. I only have the music, so cannot gauge how good or otherwise the visual aspects were, but have heard various complaints aimed at singer David Lewandowski (who was obviously having problems hearing himself from what I have read) and the statuesque pose of bassist Krzysztof Wyrwa, but if that is all people could find to complain about then it shows what a great set they were playing. The rest of the line-up of course was Piotr Płonka (guitar), Grzegorz Bauer (drums) and  Ryszard Kramarski (keyboards). Any band who has been as active as Millenium will always find it difficult to please everyone in terms of song choice for the set, and out of the 12 songs five are from the latest release, but given that is the only one which features David one can certainly understand why.

Personally I would have loved to have been in the audience as the rhythm section definitely shines – “Light A Cigar” particularly showing how they can groove and change things around, while Ryszard always keeps things nice and tight. Piotr fully understands his role in the band and there are sections where he sits right back in the pocket to allow everyone else to shine, and then he comes in with searing solo and crunching riffs to remind everyone that here is a rock band. David has a very pleasant voice, wonderfully melodic, and while it may not contain as much emotion and passion as some, this is not a band who have ever played a great deal of live shows and I am sure everything would be taken up a notch if there were more gigs in their future. According to a review, quite a few of the crowd left after their set, which demonstrates just how much they are revered in Holland and rightly so. Yet another wonderfully solid and totally enjoyable release from the Polish masters.

Kev Rowland, November 2024

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/millenium.progrock
https://www.lynxmusic.pl/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jay Graboski - 2023 - Authentic Fake

Image
(77:11; Oho Music) Track list: 1. In Dotage 3:55 2. Season of Extremes 3:54 3. 28721 3:38 4. Dot on Your Door 4:55 5. Die Before You Die 4:00 6. Hidden Agenda 4:43 7. Out on a Limb 3:58 8. Mired in Malaise? 3:00 9. Cosmos of the Soul 3:51 10. The Hours 5:32 11. Frog Legs 2:41 12. Metaphors 3:28 13. The Witness Watchers 3:41 14. Authentic Fake 3:05 15. Your Luck is Awake 4:43 16. The Crown 3:51 17. The Doomed Princess 4:01 18. St. Judas 4:12 19. Where Words Do Not Reach 3:28 20. Well, I'll Be 2:35 Line-up: Jay Graboski - vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, glockenspiel with: Dale German - guitars Ray Jozwiak - accordion, keyboards, bass, Moog Dave Kelly - guitars, programming, keyboards, percussion Julie Keough - backing vocals Harry Maben - drums Patrick McAvinue - fiddle Gene Meros - saxophones Bill Phelan - backing vocals, guitars, mandolin, recorder Bill Pratt - keyboards, backing vocals, horn arrangements David Reeve - drums, percussion, keyboards Gyro J. Scope - sequencing Prol
Read more

Thirteen of Everything - 2023 - Time and Other Delusions

Image
(68:22; Basement Avatar Records) Track list: 1. Timeline 8:57 2. Alternate Life 12:02 3. Where the Time Goes 5:32 4. The Penultimate Flight of Armando the Pigeon 7:11 5. The King of Istanbul 10:35 6. Warmth and Darkness 7:32 7. Count All the Days 16.33 Line-up: Brett Cosby - guitars Mick Peters - Chapman stick, bass, pedals, vocals Ted Thomas - drums, percussion, vocals Bob Villwock - keyboards with: Thad Miller - keyboards Prolusion. US band Thirteen of Everything has been a going concern for a bit over 20 years, releasing their initial demo back in 2002 with official albums following in 2005 and 2019 respectively. Following what has been a brief pause between albums for this band they are now preparing to launch their third studio album "Time and Other Delusions", which will be released on US label Basement Avatar Records. Analysis. In terms of the different variations one can find in the progressive rock universe, Thirteen of Everything resides safely inside the symphonic
Read more

Deaton Lemay Project - 2022 - The Fifth Element

Image
(63:04; Deaton Lemay Project) Track list: 1. The Great Awakening 5:32 2. A Different Place in Time 7:24 3. Dragonfly 3:35 4. The Nightmare 4:28 5. Exordium 6:24 - Elements of Life Suite 6. Overture 4:43 7. Fire 6:10 8. Water 6:11 9. Air 4:19 10. Earth 6:53 11. Music 7:25 Line-up: Roby Deaton - keyboards, guitars, vocals Craig LeMay - drums, percussion with: Hadi Kiani - vocals Ehsan Imani - guitars Josh Mark Raj - guitars John Haddad - bass Charles Berthoud - bass Liza Evans - violin Prolusion. US band DEATON LEMAY PROJECT started out officially back in 2018, following a 25 year long period of gestation. They released their debut album "Day After Yesterday" in 2019, and following what I suspect has been a rather busy planning and recording period during the years of the pandemic the creative twosome of Deaton and Lemay are back with their second album "The Fifth Element" at the start of 2022. Analysis. While the fifth element apparently used to be defined as aether
Read more