The introduction is here. The arrows at the bottom will move you from post to post: brief bios of Lunatic Soul I and Lunatic Soul II are already published.

Impressions   

• Released:  Oct. 17, 2011
• Colour: Grey
• My ranking: 1

This album wasn’t supposed to exist. Duda had written the songs but he had done so with a much different plan in mind: he wanted to rerelease Lunatic Soul I and II as a set, and include these new songs as bonus tracks. However, the label (Kscope) stepped in and insisted that the songs were too strong and needed to be released as a separate album, otherwise they were likely to be overlooked.

Impressions is an album of 8 instrumental tracks that riff off of and extend musical ideas found in the first two albums: roughly, “Impression I” to “IV” are taken from LS I, and “V” to “VIII” from LS II. However, they are not revisions or alternate versions of any of the songs from the original albums, but entirely different pieces. It is not obvious which impressions are inspired by which original songs, and this gives the album a unique identity. Being completely instrumental, its power must rely on atmosphere and mood, and it is a masterwork in this regard, drawing on a skill set Mariusz Duda does not get to show off frequently in Riverside or even Lunatic Soul. His considerable chops in this area are probably underappreciated. There is no story to tell, so it acts as a musical supplement to the project. 

Upside: Kscope made the right call. This is a phenomenal album, captivating and immersive; even though Duda initially resisted the label’s suggestion, he concedes that, yes, this album works, far better than anyone expected. 

Downside: Are there any? Some people might not like that it is instrumental, I suppose. It is my favourite LS album despite the fact he doesn’t sing on it–and keep in mind one of the reasons I was so struck by LS and Riverside was the quality of Duda’s voice.