Lunatic Soul returns for it’s second release, simply entitled “II”. The man behind it all is bassist and vocalist Mariusz Duda (of Riverside). Released just two years after the debut, has a white cover whereas the debut was a black cover. The similarity between both albums is the logo. The album colors depict the subject matter, with one dealing with dark themes and the other with not as dark themes. I’m not sure that Mariusz’s fans would accept if he had a 100% “happy” album.
Just like the debut, the music is acoustic in nature, a nice contrast from his band, Riverside. Some similarities between these two bands are the atmospheric background music and Mariusz’s distinctive vocals. I kind of figure that a basic comparison to me is; Riverside is to Lunatic Soul is like Porcupine Tree is to Blackfield.
Joining Mariusz on “II” is one of his band-mates from Riverside, Maciej Szelenbaum (keyboards, flutes, quzheng) and Wawrzyniec Dramowicz (drums) from Indukti (another Polish band) with Rafal Buczek (keyboards & loops on “Wanderings”).
If you enjoyed the first Lunatic Soul, I feel you will equally enjoy “II”. because they are companion albums. Just like the first, I recommend listening to this album on headphones to take in all the sounds. So if you like your prog on the acoustic side mixed with an atmospheric background, then this album is recommended to you.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on May 17th, 2011
