Artist: Mr Gil
Title: Light and Sound
Type: Album
Label: Electrum Production

Mr Gil is Mirek Gil, a ProgRock musician from Poland with an extensive back catalogue dating back to 1990 with Collage, Believe and his self-titled band. “Light and Sound” is mainly acoustic, with soft vocals and strong accompaniment from a cellist and pianist, and it’s for the largest part light and airy and not in any way “Metal”, if that matters at all.

The album starts with a classical piano piece called “One Wish to Mother”. There’s an interesting comparison in the publicity with Opeth and Green Carnation. I don’t get the Opeth comparison other than the acoustic “feel” but I can see a little bit more a likeness to Green Carnation and the instrumental beginning of “Child’s Play” on “The Quiet Offspring”, but even then it’s not sweeping melancholy, far from it. Above all it’s light and slightly moody with the cello reinforcing the mood impressively on “No More of the Dark” and “Easily”. “Best Regards” and “The Bright Island” are both traditional-sounding folk numbers, with a bit of Irish bagpipe thrown in on “Best Regards”. At times, it’s quite static – I could visualise Mr Gil and his team standing in the corner of a TV studio in subdued lighting while playing the tuneful and calming “Kto Aniolem Byl”. Interestingly there is a much more dynamic electric version of this track at the end. The strumming reminds me very much of the 70s group America of “Horse with No Name” fame while the vocal mood is akin to Peter Skellern. It’s like a rural train passing gently through the countryside. The picture I have while listening to this is of trees and green fields and river banks in the summer. Indeed, “King of Gold” and the title track “Light and Sound” are very similar to Mr. Gil’s fellow countrymen Riverside with the moody piano and the emotive vocals. The cello moments add great touches. The track “Light and Sound” pulls all the elements together impressively.

“Light and Sound” is a very pleasant listen and clearly performed by accomplished musicians. For me personally, it’s background music and an album which would please visitors who don’t like to listen to Metal all the time. It has some very nice touches. Pleasant as it is though, I couldn’t get excited about it.

http://www.myspace.com/mirekgil
http://www.electrum.lublin.pl