THE LAST SUNRISE (E)

Xanadu are a new band from Poland. However, their origin is in the nineties when drummer Hubert Murawski was a member of the old Xanadu. Their debut The Last Sunrise was recorded together with guitarists Przemek Betanski and Janusz Glon, bassist Adam Biskup and vocalist Michal Jarski. Atmospheric rock seems to be an appropriate circumscription for the music. Bands like Porcupine Tree, Riverside and Anathama come to mind as references. Thanks to the contributions of keyboardists Pawel Balcer and Marcin Grzella, the album sounds quite mature and more symphonic. The first tracks sound a lot like Riverside. The guitar riffs, the melodic verses, the bass playing and even the vocals resemble this great Polish band. In Dark Shadows there are some influences of German progressive rock by bands like Eloy and I can appreciate this rather recognizable accent of vocalist Jarski. In the third track, like in the previous songs, it becomes obvious that the band likes semitones. The atmospheric music, the lush orchestrations and the slower tempo remind me of Anathema although the vocals sound quite different. Violent Dream contains a beautiful symphonic overture with some guitar effects, then a sequence sounding like percussion and more guitars join in. This ten-minute lasting track is purely instrumental and quite tasteful. The slow melody by the lead guitar is echoed by a synth. The middle-section contains delightful melodic solos by keyboards and guitar and some excellent drumming by Murawski with a subtle use of the double bass drums pedals. The music flows right through in the ballad One Moment. Jarski whispers at first and subsequently sings with a mellow voice. In spite of all electric instruments there are some influences from folk music from the East European countries. A bit more heavy are the riffs in Vicious Circle and again the melodies and the musical style sound a lot like Riverside. The title track is the second long track of over ten minutes length. Basically it's a long ballad with the verses played with the  traditional G, C and F chords. An almost electronic interlude takes you away into this strange world of Xanadu's in which rock, ambient, folk and progressive rock are blended in a most sophisticated way. Although there's an English flag on their website, I could only open the Polish version which wasn't really helpful. Nevertheless The Last Sunrise is a very tasteful album which will surely appeal to fans of the more melodic music of Riverside.