Pośród kwiatów i cieni

On a late fall afternoon in 2012, I was walking home one day, enjoying the thirty minutes I got to just listen to music alone on my then favorite app, Pandora. That's when I heard my first Artrosis song in almost five years, finding the music rather enjoyable I made a mental note of the band for later. Then coming to the realization that Artrosis had a seven album back catalog at the time, I didn't know where to start. I just had to choose an album to familiarize myself with the music. I ended up choosing the album with the one song title I remember from 2008, that being "Morfeusz" from the band's 1999 album "Posrod Kwiatow I Cieni".

Upon listening to the first few songs, I didn't quite know what I thought, I remember thinking back when I first discovered Artrosis that their music was inconsistent and unmemorable (probably due to the lack of a defined verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus format that I was used to at the time), and I couldn't tell if my opinion changed much at all. What I did know is that the music and vocals on this album is rather delicate and have an interesting atmosphere that is very consistent. That being said, I still couldn't decide if I liked it or not, so I stopped listening. However, it somehow got to me and I kept coming back to this album. And eventually it clicked. The melodies are beautiful, I found myself humming along with the vocals - I don't speak Polish - and swaying with the music.

"Posrod Kwiatow I Cieni" is built around a very keyboard-centric atmosphere, but it never comes off as cheesy like a lot of keyboards used in the power metal acts at the time. The music swells and subsides into itself, the electronic influences mingle with the strings in a way that really fleshes out the tone of the music. Medeah's vocals are wispy and float so perfectly on the mix, that it sounds actually fairy-like, magical and otherworldly. This heavy focus on soft atmosphere is then balanced out with the guitars and bass driving the songs forward with steady riffs, that at times give something new when they shift into a controlled chaos. That being said, this isn't really headbanging music, it's metal, but not really the kind that warrants headbanging. That isn't really a bad thing though, this brand of gothic metal is much more of a fluid experience. It's not edgy, it's not thrashy, it wasn't meant to be.

It's clear that the band knew what they were doing, this album is pieced together so completely, and thoughtfully that it engages the listener, even through the more sparse passages and interludes. And if there's something else that I can really appreciate about a fully developed album other than the music is the artwork. The cover of this album is such a perfect visual representation of the music on this album, and it's absolutely stunning. The light coming through the windows passes over a dusty, and rusty fairy. It's a great concept as a whole. High praise for this album! To think that it took me five years to really get into this band, this is an instant favorite for fans of gothic metal.

Highlights: Biała karta, Morfeusz, & Posrod Kwiatow I Cieni

I got the chance to hear this album thanks to Cradle of Filth... It was included in a mp3 CD with their discography. I was grateful because I thought this was CoF, then dissapointed when I couldn't find whom this belonged to and surprised after I did. I never heard of Artrosis until that moment. They sing in what I think is polish so I have no fucking idea what lyrics are all about but I'm not deaf and I can guarantee music is way better than any other gothic acts.

The first thing you'll like about it is Medeah -the vocalist- she sings like an angel! My God, I can't still believe it. The second thing will be the atmosphere, oh dear Lord (the one in heaven this time... NO! Wait... I regret that...) I haven't heard many bands in which keyboards gave music this kind of atmosphere, making their sound more gothic than metal at some points, its beautiful and dark at the same time.

This album has more like a doom metal sound in some songs but without losing the gothic beauty in it. Production quailty is just amazing for an "unknown" band: sound is clear, guitars are strong, voice is flawless, and drums are on time. The best thing of the album is that songs are connected to each other, they all begin where the last song ends.

I can't believe why anyone has reviewed this album yet or why I'm I reviewing it instead of listening to it. If you're lucky enough and have the chance to listen this don't even think it twice, just listen, and then you'll see what I'm talking about. If only I knew how to speak polish, maybe then I could have gave them a higher score.

Best song: Nieprawdziwa Historia cz.I, (female sign), Bia³a Karta