First of all, I indicated that I had to get used to the voice of David Lewandowski who had taken over from Lukasz Gall. I can be brief about it, he sings very well on Hope dies last. It seems like the songs on this album were written with his voice in mind, but mastermind Ryszard Kramarski would have to answer that. There are some beautiful vocal lines in the tracks and it's clear that David’s voice is becoming more and more imbedded in the melodic music of Millenium. He regularly sings quite high pitched and he can do that very well, although this will not be easy to reproduce live.

But here's the thing, I was very, very happy with the fact that there were no saxophone parts on Images..... because I'm not charmed by that, and so I was shocked that a new band member was added, Lukasz Platek. So this man plays, yes, saxophone and flute and I think the latter is fine. I understand that Kramarski is looking for new elements to prevent his music from becoming too similar and in the history of Millenium saxophone parts have been added before. There are two songs where this instrument can be heard and they are very nice songs in themselves so I will have to get used to the choice made.

Yet more has happened, because the overall sound is a bit more modern and contains some more electronic elements and that provides extra dynamics. That is something that is sometimes lacking in the otherwise beautiful music that the busy Kramarski makes with this band. What has remained is the wonderfully floating atmosphere in which guitarist Plonka can indulge himself with his many exuberant solos that are really of exceptional beauty.

On Hope dies last they have chosen medium length songs that are all between five and ten minutes long. Not a real concept album this time, but there is a kind of theme in the lyrics that are mainly about personal struggles with situations and feelings regarding the world around us. And let's face it, there's a lot going on around the globe. The titles of some tracks are rather specific and long and leave little room for speculation regarding the content of the lyrics. We can definitely say that Hope dies last is a clear continuation of the path taken on the last albums, fortunately because I love it.

The first notes of opener The Sleep of Reason produces Monsters, that's a mouthful, cut right in. Not so much because they are so heavy, but more because of the bombastic slant and clear rhythm. Here you can immediately hear that Lewandowski has a very supple voice and easily varies in height and intensity. Of course, Plonka is clearly present again with his great playing and solos. His sense of melody can be compared to Rothery (Marillion) and Walner (RPWL) but also has Gilmour as a reference, so much to enjoy.

As the title track Hope dies last is already something different from what we are used to, the first three minutes we only hear an acoustic guitar and piano as an accompaniment to Lewandowski's sensitive vocal lines. Don't worry, after more than three minutes the whole band joins in and another long guitar solo follows and Platek also shows a somewhat softer sound with his flute, nice ending too. In What does not kill you makes you stronger we start with an electronic rhythm but soon the familiar sound takes over again and here too Plonka is extremely active. I can listen to this for hours. With more than eight minutes, this is one of the longer tracks and that is mainly due to the fact that at the end of the song, just when you think it's over, a spoken voice introduces the finale with, and here it comes, a saxophone solo. That feels a bit like a piece that was pasted on, but anyway, enough about this.

Memento Mori is a very slow song about death and is nice in terms of atmosphere but remains a bit flat. Also the slide guitar solo is not quite my cup of tea, but you can't have it all. Where in the previous review I have often spoken about the somewhat safe chosen path, the same applies to Hope dies last and a song like Carpe Diem is very bittersweet.

To err is human starts with a long instrumental intro in which saxophone, guitar and keyboards all play solo roles, yes unfortunately also the sax (I should stop talking about that), and Lewandowski only starts after more than four minutes.

Well, as a whole Hope dies last is another wonderful album with all the well-known Millenium elements and will certainly conquer a prominent place in my annual list. Still, I'm a tad less enthusiastic than after the previous album and that's not only because of the addition of Platek but also because of the high level of repetition of some choruses. Also, sometimes the expected finale of a song is omitted and it ends up as the proverbial blown out candle. Kramarski releases a lot of, maybe even too much, music with all his projects and that means that there is a real danger of overexposure and repetition. But as stated, I just love this music and can listen to Plonka's wonderful solos for hours and most of the small flaws are forgiven. Neoprog at its best.

Usually, the last paragraph of my reviews is about the cover and artwork and now it's no different. Marcin Chlanda has designed a beautiful cover that matches the lyrics and the artwork is also beautiful. So, compliments for him.

Music 88

Cover 92