Single title: Devious Savior (2017)

Release date: 13/01/2017

PRESS INFORMATION ABOUT THE NEW SINGLE ‘Devious Savior’ (2017)
(full release note):

‘Devious Savior’ is the title of a new single promoted by a music video by Art of Illusion, progressive rock band from Bydgoszcz, Poland. The recording promotes the upcoming second studio album to be released this spring.

Energetic, over 7-minute song speaks about struggling with own weaknesses and pursuing to self-liberation. The clip’s scirpt was written by band members. The narrative part of the video was filmed at Jezuickie Lake with an actor Piotr Sedkowski. These images are mixed with scenes of musicians recorded at classicistic Palace in Lubostron. Pictures were taken by Lukasz Sowinski. The video also includes drone recordings taken by Flying Worm Studio. The production was supported by GMG.

Apart from heavier songs, Art of Illusion’s second album will also include calmer ones. In comparison with the first studio album (‘Round Square of the Triangle’, Lynx Music 2014), the second one will include much more vocal parts.

Art of Illusion has already played shows with some reknown international bands such as: Dream Theater, Anathema, Evergrey, Pendragon, The Watch as well as Polish ones such as: Riverside, SBB, Collage, Tides From Nebula, Materia and many more. The group has performed at some very prestigous Polish stages such as Spodek (Katowice), Silesian Opera (Bytom), Silesian Theater (Katowice), Filharmonia Kaszubska (Wejherowo) or CKK Jordanki (Toruń). In 2016 the band also played its first concert abroad, at the progressive rock festival in Gothenburg (Sweden).

The band will begin a new tour after the album release. Art of Illusion will perform all over Poland with progressive bands such as Votum, Lion Shepherd, Blindead, Retrospective, Mechanism and Abstrakt. There will be some international shows at the tour as well, including German Rüsselsheim reknown from hosting many progressive bands. More details coming soon…

(short release note):

‘Devious Savior’ is the title of a new single promoted by a music video by Art of Illusion, progressive rock band from Bydgoszcz, Poland. Energetic, over 7-minute song speaks about struggling with own weakness and pursuing to self-liberation. The recording promotes the upcoming second studio album to be released this spring, which will be promoted with domestic and foreign shows with bands such as Votum, Lion Shepherd, Blindead, Retrospective, Mechanism and Abstrakt.

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• Daniel Eggenberger, Proggies.ch, 28/12/2014 (in German)
• “Tonyb”, MusicWaves.fr, 05/01/2014 (in French)
• ProgMetalZone.com, 13/03/2015 (in English)
• lasercd.com 13/03/2015 (in English)
• PassionProgressive.fr, around 30/03/2015 (in French)
• Erik Groeneweg, http://www.progwereld.org/, around 11/05/2015 (in Dutch)
• Henri Strik (edited by Robert James Pashman), backgroundmagazine.nl, found 04/08/2015 (in English)
• Marcel Hartenberg, 2015/08/27, http://www.dprp.net/, (in English)

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Daniel Eggenberger, Proggies.ch, 28/12/2014 (in German):

Art Of Illusion – Round Square Of The Triangle

Veröffentlicht am 28. Dezember 2014 von Daniel Eggenberger

Polen ist ein munteres Pflaster in Sachen moderner Progressive Rock. Der Erfolg von Bands wie Riverside, Collage, Satellite und auch Quidam aber auch die Gründung von Labels wie Metal Mind, Rock Serwis, OSKAR und Lynx haben viele Tore geöffnet. Das Quartet Art Of Illusion ist bei Lynx Music unter Vertrag, dem Label von Millenium Keyboarder Ryszard Kramarski. Die Produktion und die Performance, die hier geboten werden sind ausgezeichnet und sehr professionell. Spieltechnisch ist man top drauf und lässt es krachen. Art Of Illusion lassen sich am ehesten in die Sparte ProgMetal mit Tendenz zum Symphonik Rock einstufen. Die Gruppe agiert hauptsächlich instrumental, nur bei 3 Stücken kommt ein Gastsänger zu Ehren, der mich etwas an Chad Kroeger von Nickelback erinnert. Die Musik zeigt sich abwechslungsreich und leicht klassisch orientiert. Auch vor Jazz macht man keinen Halt. Ab und zu wird es mir etwas zu technisch und zu frickelig, was bei mir dann wiederum diesen Ermüdungseffekt auslöst. Vorallem das Griffbrettgewichse kann manchmal schon etwas nerven. Ansonsten lässt sich sagen, dass hier 4 Musiker am Werke sind, die begabt sind und ihre Instrumente zu beherrschen wissen. Gitarre und Keyboards stehen gleichberechtigt gegenüber und die Rhythmustruppe lässt sich nicht abschütteln und kämpft sich gekonnt durch jeden Tempowechsel.
Anspieltipps: Distance oder Thrown Into The Fog

Fazit: Ein Album unter vielen. In der polnischen Szene dürfte das Album sicher für Aufregung sorgen. Ob es ausserhalb ihres Heimatlandes so sein wird, wer weiss? Das Album gibt es bei JustforKicks.

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ART OF ILLUSION: ROUND SQUARE OF THE TRIANGLE (2014)

“Tonyb”, MusicWaves.fr, 05/01/2014 (in French)

‘Parmi la liste semblant sans fin des nouvelles formations progressives en provenance de Pologne, Art of Illusion publie son premier album en cette fin d’année 2014, porté là encore par le label Lynx Music, fruit enfin éclos après une histoire débutée il y a déjà une douzaine d’années.

A contrario de la majorité des formations hébergées par le leader de Millenium, Art of Illusion n’évolue pas dans le registre néo-progressif. La musique du quatuor, essentiellement instrumentale puisque seuls trois titres sont chantés, est plutôt à ranger dans le métal progressif, même si celui-ci reste très abordable pour des oreilles habituellement peu enclines à un déluge pouvant parfois être bruitiste. Ce n’est absolument pas le cas ici, puisque l’appairage au registre métallique est surtout le fait de la section rythmique, et plus particulièrement du batteur et de son utilisation régulière de la double pédale, même si les soli de guitare échevelés évoquent parfois un Joe Satriani au meilleur de sa forme.

Nous l’avons dit, la musique d’Art of Illusion est essentiellement instrumentale et va ravir les amateurs de breaks en tous genres, de thèmes multiples qui se mêlent et s’entrelacent. L’ensemble est servi par des musiciens ultra talentueux : section rythmique inspirée multipliant les changements de mesure, guitariste aux doigts agiles capables de soli ébouriffants, et un pianiste/claviériste passant sans ambages d’une ambiance rétro-70 à des sonorités modernes au son énorme. Tout est ainsi réuni pour contenter l’amateur de rock progressif au sens large du terme, d’autant que le groupe varie habilement les ambiances, passant du prog au métal et vice-versa, introduisant même une touche folk médiévale bienvenue (For Her) en conviant de la flûte aux agapes.

Les interventions chantées sont minimales, et il faut bien reconnaître qu’il s’agit plutôt d’un mal pour un bien. En effet, sans remettre en cause les capacités de Marcin Walczak, l’espace qui lui est laissé ne fait pas partie des passages les plus passionnants de l’album, avec notamment une (heureusement) courte power-ballade à la mélodie peu inspirée (Shattered Mirror). Ainsi, la dichotomie entre le début chanté de The Rite of Fire et le virage 100% instrumental opéré au milieu de la plage est particulièrement flagrant de la différence de qualité entre ces deux aspects de la musique des polonais.

Malgré ce léger bémol, Round Square of the Triangle se pose d’emblée comme une pierre marquante de la musique progressive polonaise, posant Art of Illusion quelque part entre leurs confrères de Riverside et les américains d’Ephemeral Sun. En prenant le temps de développer ses nombreuses idées, ce groupe doté d’une technique bien au-dessus de la moyenne nous délivre une galette garante de nombreuses écoutes passionnantes, dans un registre essentiellement instrumental avec lequel il n’est pas toujours évident de conserver une qualité constante. C’est pourtant le cas ici, et on en redemande !’

Plus d’informations sur https://www.facebook.com/artofillusionband

4/5

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ProgMetalZone.com, 13/03/2015 (in English)

Prog Metal New Releases: March 13, 2015

Art of Illusion – Round Square of the Triangle, Poland, Progressive Instrumental Rock/Metal

‘we haven’t heard much from Polish bands lately – but let me tell you these guys are the real deal. Even though this band has been around since 2002 this is their first album and it’s just a stunner of complex, heavy and powerfully emotional progressive music. The use of piano adds a real touch of drama and sophistication to one of the best instrumental progressive albums we’ve heard in a long time.’

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lasercd.com, 13/03/2015 (in English)

Round Square Of The Triangle BY Art Of Illusion

‘Here’s an incredible release that came out of nowhere.  Art Of Illusion are a Polish prog metal band that push all the right buttons.  First off all of these guys have chops from hell.  Most notable is guitarist Filip Wisniewski who is nothing short of a revelation.  The album does feature vocals on some tracks but quite a lot of it is instrumental – perhaps a bit similar to the late, great Joseph Magazine.  Art Of Illusion takes the technicallity of a band like Dream Theater and mashes it up with some of the melodicism and deft keyboard work of Savatage.  What vocals are on the album are song in English by guest vocalist Marcin Wlalczak and he sings accent free (a real bonus if you ask me).  Add in some flute work that will remind you of Persona Grata and you’ve got one hell of an album.  BUY OR DIE!!’

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PassionProgressive.fr, ok. 30/03/2015 (in French)

~  ART  OF  ILLUSION  ~

” Round Square Of The Triangle ” est le premier album de cette nouvelle formation en provenance de Pologne. Sa musique, essentiellement instrumentale, est plutôt à ranger dans la mouvance métal progressif, le côté métallique est surtout le fait de la section rythmique, et plus particulièrement du batteur et de son utilisation régulière de la double pédale, et aux soli de guitare échevelés qui évoquent parfois Joe Satriani. Une musique servie par des musiciens talentueux, qui va ravir les amateurs de breaks en tous genres, de thèmes multiples qui se mêlent et s’entrelacent. Avec sa section rythmique inspirée multipliant les changements de mesure, son guitariste aux doigts agiles capables de soli ébouriffants, son pianiste/claviériste passant sans ambages d’une ambiance rétro-70 à des sonorités modernes au son énorme, tout est réuni pour contenter l’amateur de rock progressif au sens large du terme, d’autant que le groupe varie habilement les ambiances, passant du prog au métal, introduisant même une touche folk médiévale bienvenue en conviant de la flûte aux agapes. Art of Illusion est à ranger parmi les formations marquantes de la musique progressive polonaise.

3/5

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ART OF ILLUSION – ROUND SQUARE OF THE TRIANGLE

Erik Groeneweg, http://www.progwereld.org/, around 11/05/2015 (in Dutch)

Tien jaar duurde het voordat het Poolse kwartet Art Of Illusion dit eerste album af had. Bandwisselingen, bandleden die voor langere tijd naar elders vertrokken, technische problemen, gedoe met zangers, het leest als een naar boek. Gelukkig loopt dat boek goed af: het album is er en het mag er zijn.

Art Of Illusion maakt progrock van het type Dream Theater: snelle, virtuoze metal met veel solo’s waar de noten uitpuilen, ingewikkelde ritmes en stevige riffs. De plaat is op drie nummers na instrumentaal, dus de heren krijgen ook uitgebreid de ruimte om te laten horen hoe goed ze zijn. Vooral toetsenist Lapuc valt op. Hij is niet alleen heel erg goed, maar hij maakt ook veel gebruik van een akoestische piano, en dat vergt wel wat extreme mixage tussen al dat geweld, maar het klinkt erg fraai. Ook andere akoestische instrumenten, zoals een dwarsfluit, een saxofoon en akoestische gitaren, geven de muziek de nodige ruimte.

Dat is maar goed ook, want Art Of Illusion is best een druk bandje. Het tempo ligt hoog en alle solo’s moeten om de een of andere reden in dubbel of driedubbel tempo. Reuze knap, maar je wordt er ook wel een beetje horendol van en dan is een mooi stukske jazzy piano een verademing.

Ik heb ook wel een beetje medelijden met gastzanger Walczak, die het fantastisch doet, maar zich door enorme lappen tekst moet worstelen in een tongverzwikkende vaart.

De plaat klinkt ondertussen subliem. De muziek mag af en toe wat over de top zijn (Round Square is net een op hol geslagen sabeldans), de productie houdt de boel prachtig bij elkaar. Soms weet de band ook echt te verrassen, zoals in The Triangle, waar de woeste saxofoon van Glazik heel even associaties oproept met Van der Graaf Generator. Op andere momenten waan ik me bij een concert van Rhapsody Of Fire, met al die afgezaagde klassieke riedels.

Per saldo slaat de balans door naar de positieve kant: Art Of Illusion maakt een machtige partij progmetal met waanzinnig muzikaal vakmanschap, net genoeg goede smaak en originaliteit om de band van de middenmoot te onderscheiden en steeds weer die fijne akoestische piano. Art Of Illusion heeft met “Round Square Of The Triangle” het buskruit niet uitgevonden, maar doet er wel mooie dingen mee.

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Art Of Illusion –  Round Square Of The Triangle

Henri Strik (edited by Robert James Pashman), backgroundmagazine.nl, found 2015/08/04 (in English)

Sometimes you don’t have to spend a lot of words on a release to make clear that you are dealing with an excellent album. Well this in a way can be said about Art Of Illusion and their album Round Square Of The Triangle. Art Of Illusion is for the outside world a brand new progressive rock group from Poland. They were founded in 2002 in Bydgoszcz but nowadays consist of Filip Wiśniewski (guitar), Pawel Lapuć (piano, keyboards), Mateusz Wiśniewski (bass) and Kamil Kluczyński (drums).

Round Square Of The Triangle was released in 2014 and is their debut album on the progressive rock scene. And what a debut this album is! From start to finish you hear what remarkable musicians they are. They master their instruments all the way and show a lot of musical craftsmanship. Furthermore, the ten compositions they wrote for this album are of an unbelievable high level. The tracks are divided between instrumentals and songs that feature vocals. On all of them, they show how well they can write complex music which have a lot of difficult time signatures and solos performed on the keyboards and electric guitars. The guitar and keyboards are equally opposite and the rhythm section can’t be shaken off and fights skill fully through every change of pace. The style they move towards can be described as progressive rock combined with a sharp heavy metal sound. This is above all very melodic, with rich arrangements in harmony and with technical proficiency creating a captivating musical palette of colours and moods. After all this is said you can say that Art Of Illusion can best be classified as having a tendency towards symphonic rock in the division prog metal.

Most of the tracks are fantastic up-tempo pieces with the exception of Shattered Mirror, a ballad with a more dramatic ending. Although the initial part of Rite Of Fire also could be seen as a ballad, but since the middle part manifests itself with strong fast instrumental elements, this track can be considered as a mixed piece of music. On the more up tempo instrumentals, you can compare the band most of all with an act such as Dream Theater. However when the vocals of guest lead singer Marcin Walczak occur in their compositions For Her, Shattered Mirror and The Rite Of Fire, they move more towards a band such as Riverside. A band from Estonia strangely enough also came to mind. Namely X-Panda who released their excellent debut album Flight Of Fancy (see review) in 2011-an album which also includes strong instrumentals which goes music wise towards a kind of prog metal style. Moreover, the album also includes a couple of tracks on which vocals can be heard.

The two other guest musicians on the album provide a little bit of variety on the album and therefore have to be mentioned as well. On The Triangle, you can hear Tomasz Glazik on the baritone saxophone and on For Her you can hear Emilia Mielewczyk on the flute.

Although it took Art Of Illusion almost 10 years to realise the songs on Round Square Of The Triangle, you can say that they still sound as fresh as if they were written today. This comes down mainly to the fact that the album was so well produced with the modern technology that was available. This was just what the songs needed when they were recorded. This way the instrumental tracks with a rich arrangement, a large number of virtuosic solos and a dynamic rhythm section could be heard the best possible way! Highly recommended to fans of Dream Theater and Riverside in particular!

4,5/5

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Marcel Hartenberg, 2015/08/27, http://www.dprp.net/ (in English)

Art of Illusion – Round Square of the Triangle

Poland. A country that has several of its musicians leading the way back to the Jerusalem of prog. A country where the fountain of prog must be located somewhere. A country that has many of us at DPRP in awe of the vast stream of prog artists and bands that have risen in recent years. Aye, Quidam, Collage, Riverside, are certainly amongst the most notable in the realms of prog, but it might interest you to know that there is plenty more where they come from.

Way back in 2002, in the town of Bydgoszcz, a band was formed that went by the name of Art of Illusion. Although their music has been a blend of heavier rock, metal and prog, and though there have been various incarnations since their formation, it has taken the band many years to record and finish their debut release. The band has encountered many challenges along the way, yet, as history has already proven, Polish people don’t just bend but rather persevere, which was also very much the case for the members of Art of Illusion.

Finally, in 2014 their debut album was released. Without any doubt, it goes to show that these lads can all play. Most of the songs are instrumentals and all of the band members get to shine. This is exemplified in the bass lines where Mateusz Wisniewski gets to show his technique (check out The Triangle for a suitable example), the keyboard parts that show how creative Pawel can be, the varied drumming by Kamil or the colourful playing of Filip on the guitar. Dreamy and atmospheric parts follow sections where the band really rock out their riffs and chops, and they do know how to work. The guests on vocals, flute and sax adding their own positive colour to the music.

Yes, there are parts that might make you think they are only in it for the mastering of their instruments and showing off their skills but then there suddenly is a more jazzy part or just a more emotional passage. Comparisons might sometimes be in the vein of Dream Theater, Symphony X or even Rhaspody of Fire. You can also think of the experimental side of Pain of Salvation. There is a freshness to the music of this Polish band, which is not unlike Pain of Salvation. Even though the songs might have been a long time coming, they don’t just sound too constructed. To these ears, that does sometimes happen with the lengthier pieces by some of the bands mentioned. Here I seem to hear a more natural flow to the songs. It has been a long time since I heard one of the aforementioned bands play something as refreshing as Thrown into the Fog. That says a lot for their songwriting.

Most of the songs are well beyond the five-minute mark. Nice. And there is variety in the songs as well. I find their music well worth taking a dive into, as long as you are not scared of soaring guitars, arpeggios and all, keys that go their own way and a rhythm section that adds what is necessary while putting their own mark on proceedings, pushing emotion and dare to the fore and leading us into imagination. That is what Art of Illusion have produced on this very fine album.

8 /10

(please note, that you may have to change the film settings on You Tube if the subtitles don’t turn on automatically)