One year ago I accidentally ran into this Polish prog-rock band and I was immediately impressed. The high-quality of the music and sound on their demo “Spectrum of the Green Morning” really surprised me, especially because of the band members young ages. I decided to keep this band in mind and now in 2008 their debut “Stolen Thoughts” was released through the Polish Lynx Music label.

This new album didn’t grab me by the nuts immediately as did its predecessor. No, I really needed several spins to let these new songs work into my mind. I think the main reason for this is that “Spectrum…” consisted of more songs that built up to a certain climax, it had more vivid songs. The songs on “Stolen Thoughts” all stay more or less in the same slow/mid-pace and melancholic mood and then an album really needs time to grow. But like said, after a few extra spins the songs one by one started to sank in my brain and by now they won’t come out anymore.  In an earlier interview with AM the band stated that their goal is to get the listeners in a reflective and melancholic mood. Well that’s exactly what happens on “Stolen Thoughts”. From opener “Defend your Identity” to closer“Asleep” the music takes you on a musical journey where good musicianship is combined with emotive moods. The use of acoustic guitars, piano and atmospherical samples (like ticking clocks, thunder and lightning, burning wood in the fire) adds extra layers to the collective sound and gives an individual song more depth. I still see Riverside as the best comparison of which kind of music you should expect when listening to Retrospective’s music. The voice of singer Jakub Roszak has also a part in that. He often uses his vocals in the same way Mariusz Duda does; dark and deep, sometimes whispering. His English grammar and pronunciation could be better in some phrases, but hey we still love the old school German thrash despite the accent right? It’s the total package that counts and that’s something Retrospective certainly has done right. Be it in cool songs as “Yesterday’s dream”, “Memories”, “sNoone” or “Asleep”. With a very good production and again killer artwork, it’s quality that is served here.

Although I think one or two songs with higher climaxes would have been better for the variation, I find this an excellent album from a band with great potential. Let’s hope they can keep on growing as musicians together and if they can I’m sure this band will come up with more great work in the future! It would be very good exposure if they could jump as support act on an European tour with their comrades Riverside. But for now: check them out!

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Other articles for Retrospective:

Interview		We want to have our unique style and we want to pass our point of view»	by Tim 06 Mar, 2009
Interview		"Our lyrics put the listener in a rather reflective and melancholic mood"»	by Tim 24 Nov, 2007
Demo review		Spectrum of the Green Morning»	by Tim 04 Nov, 2007