Abraxas came to life during Lukasz Swiech's (Adam Lassa's friend) birthday in 1987. A couple of young people shared the same passion - they wanted to play progressive rock. Besides Adam Lassa (vocals), other members of the band at that time were Lukasz Swiech (guitar), Radek Kaminski (acoustic guitar), Mikolaj Matyska (drums), Krzysztof Pacholski (keybord, bass), and Rafal Muniak (bass). Their inspirations were such bands as Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes, and Marillion. But Abraxas was always extremely original and had their own, unique and easy to recognize by fans style. In the late eighties, a progressive rock band from Bydgoszcz (northwestern part of Poland) had a very little chance to become popular in Poland. But at least Abraxas was playing a lot of concerts in their hometown in Kuznia Club. Their paratheatrical shows were legendary for all progressive rock fans in Poland. Unfortunately, Abraxas was almost not playing at all in other cities. Later, the band took part in a famous at that time Polish rock festival "Krajowa Scena Rockowa". In 1991, Abraxas recorded their first songs in PIK, Radio of Bydgoszcz. From those sessions progressive rock fans in Poland heard for the first time "Tabula Rasa" and "Kameleon". Unfortunately, in September 1992 the songwriter, guitarist and the key-member of Abraxas, Lukasz Swiech, left the band. The Polish people have an old saying that "bad things come in pairs". A horrible thing happened - guitarist Radek Kaminski died in a car accident. That was too much for them ... Abraxas discontinued their activities.

In 1994, when nobody believed (even Adam Lassa!) that Abraxas might come back, the band reactivated. The only member of the old lineup, Adam Lassa (vocals), introduced to us an all-new band: Szymon Brzezinski (guitars), Marcin Mak (drums), Marcin Blaszczyk (keyboards & flute), and Olgierd Baltaki (bass). The current line-up is almost the same as in 1994, only Olgierd Baltaki was replaced with Rafal Ratajczak (bass).

Like every new band's, Abraxas' biggest dream was to record a studio album. They already had some tracks recorded (but only on demo tapes) in the studios of Gdansk (1994), Poznan (1995) and Bydgoszcz (1996). "Kameleon", "Tabula Rasa" and "Tarot" were among those tracks. In 1996, Abraxas took part in the First Warsaw Progfest as well as a few other festivals and concerts outside their hometown. Finally!

On October 7, 1996, their debut album was released. It was simply called "Abraxas". "But what those words on the cover of the CD mean?" thought progressive rock fans who don't speak Polish. "...Cykl, obraca sie. Narodziny, dziecinstwo pelne duszy, usmiechow niewinnych i zdrady..." It translates as follows: "Everything comes full circle. Birth, childhood full of souls, innocent smiles and treachery..." It is not the title, as some people may think, but only an excerpt from the extraordinary lyrics of Adam Lassa (of course they sound much better in Polish). They are full of magic, spiritism, occultism and fairy tales (see for example the lyrics from "Tarot"). A single "Kameleon" (Chameleon) was also released. It includes three tracks: "Kameleon", "De Profundis" and unreleased "La Strada"!

Less than two years later, on March 26, 1998 the second Abraxas album was released. The fans just couldn't wait! So what did we get? Abraxas definitelly changed its style on "Centurie". The band seem more mature, their tracks are better produced, but the album lacks such tracks as "Kameleon", "Tarot" or "Tabula Rasa". It is still one of the best progressive rock albums of 1998, but don't we miss a little our good old Abraxas?

More and more progressive fans from other European countries invite Abraxas to play for them. Certainly, their shows are ones of the best in the progressive rock world. Abraxas played as a support band for such prog rock stars as Arena, Porcupine Tree and Fish. ... But it won't last long! Those stars will soon have to ask Abraxas if they can be its support bands! :-) True or false? Just wait a few more months when the third album of Abraxas is going to be released!

Author: Chris Kukielka