Kev Rowland I have been lucky to hear many Polish prog bands over the years, and this 2008 debut from Votum has brought another into my area of knowledge. Now, Poland isn't a country that many Western progheads would necessarily think of as being a hotbed, but over the years there have been some great bands (think SBB, Collage, Satelite to name just a few) and of course Riverside has made a huge impression on everyone. With this release, Votum deserve very much to be spoken about in the same sentence. When one looks at the CD cover the impression is one of darkness and menace, and isn't hard to imagine that the music inside is Black Metal, but instead we have one of the most atmospheric and interesting debuts from recent years that I have heard.

Yes, when they decide that the time is right they can punch out the heavy metal riffs and give us some symphonic passages that wouldn't sound out of place with Therion or Nightwish, but often it is the 'menacing threat' that takes this forward. It is simply one of the most atmospheric albums I have heard, and while there are times when it sounds more like Negură Bunget than Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree, it is also true that all these bands have obviously had an influence. The vocals are in English, and for the most part are melodic without too much of an accent.

This isn't going to be for everyone, as it straddles so many genres and sub-genres, but I urge anyone interested in hearing great rock music, whatever label people saddle it with, to search it out. www.progrockrecords.co m or www.votumband.pl

Windhawk Impressive full-length début by this Polish act.

Progressive metal is the name of the game for this creation; and a rather dark and ominous-sounding variety of it as well. Not metal all the way though - fragile and mellow passages have their place here - especially in the opening segments of the compositions; and breaks to calmer water ambient as well as industrial-tinged appear in most tunes.

The guitars dominates the proceedings though; and the band have opted for a massive, wall-of-sound placement of riffs and riff patterns on this release. A bit overdone according to my tastes, as details and textures tend to drown in the loud cascading guitar sounds. Synth layers melodic or majestic in scope flesh out the sonic tapestries; and a capable, powerful vocalist delivers the lyrics in an OK manner.

Personally I was most intrigued by the drum-work on this production though. Very much different in approach to what is common in the genre, his at times quirky and most times highly fluent delivery really added some nice twists to this experience.

A strong début overall, where the main weaknesses are syrupy chorus segments at times; and the massive guitars may not be to everybody's liking.