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Another reviews and interviews (in german and polish language) are placed on the relevant language versions of God's Bow Site
Reviews "What's Beyond The Suns"
God's Bow "What's Beyond the Suns"
A Polish band in Release; that's rare, I can tell you. Stettin's God's Bow is just one of many East European bands determined to win the hearts of people worldwide. The scene is alive and moving in a lot countries, we never heard of in the past. New people and ideas is just what we need. Poland is likely to play a larger and larger part ahead, because of its size, position and people.
Since 1997, God's Bow have released a previous album via Dion Fortune in 1998 as well as appeared on numerous compilations, live stages and magazine pages. They now shine as one of the brightest Polish stars. The new album "What's Beyond the Suns" immediately wins me over with it's etno ambient electronics in the school of Dead Can Dance and Bel Canto (two of my "house bands"). Beauty, emotions and atmosphere are keywords when Agnieszka Kornet and Key P embark on a serious musical and philosophical journey. The songs with vocals leave more to desire, mostly since they are too loud in the sound picture. This album has lots of moments, even though it's hardly perfect. But give God's Bow more time to grow. Then, who knows what can happen. I believe there is room for more talented bands in this genre.
Mikael Kahrle
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Review from  Release Magazine |
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God's Bow "What's Beyond the Suns"
God's Bow follow a formula that's produced some nice releases in the past, powerful female vocals in a vaguely folky style, on top of a somewhat ambient electronic sound with nods to classical and world music. So, it's not exactly original, but, barring excessive cheese in the music or irritatingly overblown vocals, it's hard to go wrong with a good vocalist and a decent musician. And God's Bow don't go wrong, Agnieska Kornet has a strong and attractive voice, bringing to mind a load of singers from Julianne Regan and Lisa Gerrard to any number of the vocalists in the atmospheric style. Krystof Pieczarka's music is more reliant on a bleepy electronic sound than the pseudo-classical style preferred by many in the style, echoing some of Aesma Daeva's early work. Lyrically, the pair threads religious imagery with symbols of isolation and the feeling of being very small in the universe. It's all very nice and enjoyable, one of those CDs you can stick on in the background and enjoy while doing something else.
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| Review from Sordid Magazine |
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God's Bow "What's Beyond the Suns"
The Polish duo God's Bow now bring us their second album ”What's Beyond the Suns”. The music of God's Bow is best described as etheral darkwave, not unlike some Projekt acts. It is very laid back and meditative and includes wonderful female vocals. They have avoided the melodramatic and quite cheesy sound of many bands in this genre and their music sounds subtle and heartfelt. That is very important in this genre since it is a fine line between elegance and poor taste sometimes. God's Bow manages quite well to avoid clichés and cheap tricks, though, and their music is kept simple and relies on strong melodies and true emotions.
Mostly the music consists of subdued strings, quiet percussion and obscured atmospheric soundscapes. On top of this comes the clear melancholic vocals. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that if you are able to write good songs. Sometimes, there are more bombastic parts in the songs and these do not work quite as well, in my opinion. Mostly, though, the music is soft and quiet and that is when it is at its best.
One song that sticks out a bit is “Interstellar Absolution” which has quite a prominent beat added to the atmospheric music. This works really well and it is one of my favourites on the album. Other favourites include “Clear” and the eighties inspired “Promise”.
This is a promising band, I think. There seems to be more and more music of this kind coming out of Poland and that is interesting. Hopefully I get to hear more of God's Bow and I recommend them to anyone into atmospheric ethereal music and such.
Anders Eklund
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| Review from Moving Hands Magazine |
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Reviews"Twilight"
God's Bow "Twilight"
It was the track "My Fault" on "New Alternatives 4" (Nightbreed) that drew me to this band, and I must say, that as far as modern ethereal Goth melodies go, God´s Bow do a damn fine job. Female fronted vocals weave over keyboard driven tunes, some laid back, others quite up beat. I could liken this band to Black Tape For A Blue Girl, but with more zest and drive, so fans of the aforementioned won't be disappointed with this release. The album's 11 tracks are enveloped with by fairly dark synthesizer Intro and Outros, which I find a bit twee, and not really needed. This leaves 9 tracks of proper "content", all very electronic, some with monks chanting (just like Enigma), and others given a distinctly mediaeval feel to them. Not all tracks have vocals, like the very futuristic "S.E.T.I.", while others have incredibly long intros that lead up to a crescendo of song. If it's one thing you can say for this album, it'll keep you listening to it for quite some time. Here's looking forward to the next arrow to fly from God´s Bow.
Elcombe
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| Review from Hard Wired |
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Interviews
Interview for"SIDE-LINE" nr 39 (
March/April
2002)
God's Bow
Beyond the Polish suns
By Bernard Van Isacker
Founded in April 1997 in Szczecin, Poland, God's Bow released their first album "Twilight" soon after. Mixing elements from bands such as Dead Can Dance, Vangelis, Clan Of Xymox and Depeche Mode they gained a status inside Poland for their excellent live performances and especially the angelic vocal performances by Agnieszka. Their second album “What's beyond the suns” has now been released and finally gets a decent distribution via Strangeways / Indigo. We talked to Agnieszka Kornet (vocals) and Krzysztof Pieczarka.
SL: When Side-Line's Stephane Froidcoeur interviewed you 3 years back on the basis of an advanced demo of your first album "Twilight", the voice of Agnieszka had not yet reached the expression it has now, especially live you have become a real revelation. What changed?
A: Thank you... I am happy that the expression of my voice has so positive opinions. Still, there is quite a lot of work for me, to obtain a really high quality of the sound. The recording of our first album was my first - serious - vocal experience. Earlier I had been singing in chorus, once even performing on stage, but mostly I was singing at home, for my pleasure. “Twilight” was my first test, the field in which I could check my own possibilities... I made some mistakes that helped me to discover what is in fact working in the studio. I also learned how to direct my voice while recording it and while performing „live”. This is quite different from singing in the shower :o).
K: I'd like to add that our way of developing our music has changed. During “Twilight”, Agnieszka was recording the vocal parts to the instrumental versions that were ready, half of which was created when he band consisted of SidjaGG and me only. Now the vocal parts were recorded at the same time with the rest of music, so we can take care of every detail. What's more, we 've been developing the whole material for a really long time and I think it was good idea... The important change is also the fact that we recorded the material as a duet, because SidjaGG, shortly after our debut, took his leave to the creation of music.
SL: Agnieszka, your voice sometimes reminds me of Anneli Drecker from the Norwegian band Bel Canto, was she of any inspiration? Also the music tends to be similar to what Bel Canto achieved back in the late eighties, early nineties.
A: Thank you very much - this is a big compliment for me, because I regard the voice of Anneli Drecker as very well. Very often by vocal practising I listen to various singers, including one record of Bel Canto, I know, “Birds of Passage”. Many people have the similar opinions about our music. While listening, people find the pieces of many different sounds of Bel Canto, Dead Can Dance or Delerium… It's very nice.
K: I also like Bel Canto. I know, that their new album is about to be released and I am awaiting it :o). However, although I know that our music is being comparing to this band, I cannot say that we are trying to compose in a similar way. We are listening to many bands and to a very different music, but the music I compose, comes from the inside. I spend much time, playing different instruments, creating new sounds. Sometimes I improvise several hours on one song to see what is possible, what's inside me. I like a lot playing on electronic instruments, because they give almost unrestricted possibilities to get fascinating sounds and they let me fully convey my visions.
SL: The productional approach for your latest album is a clear change to the less well-done production on "Twilight".
A: We now worked with Roman Rütten from Endraum. He took care about the proper production of our songs, what helped us to notice the change in both our albums.
K: While recording “Twilight” we had to hurry. Later we came to the conclusion, it all happened too fast and the record didn't sound as good as we wanted, so the fact that while recording our second album we had more time has a positive effect on our work. Very important was also the very nice atmosphere in the studio of Roman Rütten. We understood each other not only musically but also we had a great time together, talking and having fun also privately.
SL: We had to wait 3 years before getting "What's beyond the sun"; I hope we won't have to wait 3 more years to hear the successor to this album?
A: We are also hoping that! The time between recording both albums was long; it was connected with some technical problems, later there were problems with production and pre-release of the record... Based on this experience we don't want this situation to repeat, so we are planning to start working very soon. We have already composed some songs for our third album, so we hope it will be released at the beginning of the next year.
Interview from Side-Line
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Interview for "HARD WIRED" (Issue 9 1999)
God's Bow
By Elcombe
After hearing then on a "Night Breed" compilation, Keith Elcombe made it his goal to track down Poland´s latest goth offerings, and speaks to frontman, Krzysztof Pieczarka.
HW: So who are God´s Bow?
GB: The band is formed by Agnieszka Kornet (vocals), Krzysztof Pieczarka (electronic instruments) and SidjaGG (electronic instruments).
HW: How would you describe your musical style and sound?
GB: I suppose that the most appropriate description of our style is ambient-ethnic-dark-wave. Our music is mostly pure electronic supported by female vocals and ethnic elements.
HW: Why the name, God´s Bow? Is there any religious significance in choosing this name?
GB: The name of our band is connected with faith. But our faith is quite different to the usual meaning of this word. We believe in the existence of a higher being which accompanies mankind since the beginning. But we don't appreciate the fact that faith can by restricted by institutions. By the name God´s Bow we wanted to express our imaginations towards the relationship between god and mankind. I'm convinced that the imperfect human being deserves god´s respect. God realises the human ability to make progress and good deeds. We've got potential. Of course we shouldn't forget our place in universe and respect for god.
HW: How long did it take to record & produce the album "Twilight"?
GB: The songs our album contains were recorded within a very short period of time. It lasted a few days only. In our opinion it was a little bit too fast to achieve the aims we've set and to work out details. We can realize these fact when we listen to our new album but nevertheless we are quite satisfied by our debut.
HW: Is there a specific reason why the band use female fronted vocals?
GB: Good question... I've never thought why. But as I realized that it would be a good idea to add vocals to our music, I automatically thought of a female voice. I've got several reasons for that. Above all our music and lyrics deal with spiritual and tender issues. Our music and lyrics are often dramatic and dynamic but despite these they can be associated with beauty. Women stand and for beauty and tenderness so we choose a female voice.
HW: What are the bands musical backgrounds?
GB: Our music is completely electronic. We've tried to put unusual sounds and traditional, ethno music samples together. By this connection we wanted to show that electronic music can also be very spiritual.
HW: How would you describe the Gothic/Underground scene in Poland?
GB: Gothic scene in Western Europe cannot be compared to the Polish scene. Gothic scene in Poland is a real underground movement and very few people are interested in that kind of music. But it exists and grows. More and more interesting band emerge and attract new fans.
HW: The album "Twilight" features a synthesizer driven classical Intro & Outro, which in my mind do not fit in with the style of the rest of the album. Why was it decided to use these?
GB: Ok, I agree that there is a stylistic difference to other songs but I think it's a excellent introduction to the climate of our album. It's full of mysticism and reflection about oneself.
HW: What influences the lyrics on "Twilight"?
GB: There is a simple answer to this question i.e. life itself inspired our lyrics. Our lyrics deal with the devastation of moral values and the struggle of finding ourselves and a meaning in our lives. But first of all we want the listeners to find a meaning by themselves.
HW: Who are the bands musical influences?
GB: We have various music predilections. We like electronic and psychedelic music but also music played by other instruments. What is more we like ethnic music, world music and soundtracks. Sometimes we drift away on the waves of meditation songs which widen our spiritual horizons. As for our favorite musicians I can name for example DCD, Delerium, Vangelis, Skinny Puppy, Depeche Mode and many more.
HW: Did the finished album turn out as originally planned? Is there anything you'd like to change?
GB: We had no concept concerning our album before we recorded it. The songs our album contains appear satisfying enough to us. Sure we realize that there're several things we could solve in a different way but it doesn't mean that it would be better. We are not fully satisfied by the technical side of "Twilight". But nevertheless the content of our album is ok.
HW: Track 7 (S.E.T.I.) on the album is very upbeat compared to other tracks - how come?
GB: It's as dynamic as the technical progress and gain of knowledge people have witnessed in the last century. The dynamics of this song isn't constant. By that we wanted to express special periods in a mans life. On the one hand there are periods people start to reflect on the unknown on the other hand there are times filled with struggle for finding these secrets.
HW: When can we expect some more material from God´s Bow?
GB: At the moment we are collecting material for our second album. It will be released in the middle of this year.
HW: And finally... what were you all doing at midnight on December the 31st?
GB: We didn't celebrate wilder then every year. We spent New Year at home with our friends.
Interview from Hard Wired
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Interview for "SIDE-LINE" nr 26 (March/April 1999)
God's Bow
THE TWILIGHT OF A NEW POLISH SENSATION ?
By Stephane Froidcoeur
God´s Bow has been created in April 1997 in Szczecin, Poland by Agnieszka Kornet (vocals), Krzysztof Pieczarka (keyboards) and Grzegorz Gajdis (keyboards). I discovered their music through an advanced demo of their first and current album "Twilight". It's a pure electronic entity full of somber moods and floating sound sculptures. "We can describe our music as electronic music with some ethnical climates". It's not a coincidence if they admit to be fascinated through other artists like Dead Can Dance, Vangelis, Clan Of Xymox, Depeche Mode and such. "We love to make music and listen to it to... so making music is an important part of our life. It's very hard to live without it".
Except the influences of the aforementioned bands, God's Bow claimed to be influenced through life and a couple of things which live in their hearts like pain, beauty... The lyrical content of their work seems to be particularly important and not without any interest. "A great source of inspiration is William Blake's poetry. So we write about our emotions such as love with the dark side of it (pain, disappointment when we believe in something and it broke dawn), beauty of nature and the great power of immaterial things for example our soul, mind and many mysterious parts of our life". When you pay some attention to analyze the deeper content of their music, you can perceive a similar feeling inside. The music sounds melodious which can be considered as the love for nature and beauty, but at the same time dark and a bit depressed which perfectly stands for the dark side of life they mentioned. The sound of God's Bow is not without reminding their successful compatriots of Fading Colours. They've a similar gothic aspect while the vocals of Agnieszka don't maybe possess the same graceful expression as these from De Coy, but there's the same meaningful content inside.
The same year they set up the band, God's Bow already contributed to international CD-compilations on Hyperium (Germany), Nightbreed (UK) and Venture Beyond (USA). A few months later they signed to Black Flames Productions and started the work on their debut album "Twilight". The album has been recorded in their homeland and contains 9 songs plus an intro and outro. If the compositions are splendid, the production of this first baby is not what I would call a major success! What happened? Maybe the inexperience which is the biggest enemy when a band releases is first album or maybe a low budget production... who knows? "The CD has been released on Polish label Black Flames Productions. This label is specialized into gothic and electronic music. They are also representing Hyperium in Poland. Our album have been as tape as well". Anyway, "Twilight" deserves to be purchased through synthetic dark-mood lovers! God's Bow have now started to work on their second album. "We would like make our music a little bit better and more interesting. Of course, we would like to visit and play our music not only in Poland, maybe we will visit other European countries... we will see". The band already performed e few times in their homeland together with bands such as Inkubus Sukkubus, Attrition, Fading Colours and Clan Of Xymox. Their label is right now busy to get license on a bigger label of the West-European part and that would be for sure very important for the promotion and recognition of this promising band.
Interview from Side-Line
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