Thoroughly loved their previous début album 2022 “Stations”, which I felt duty-bound to review glowingly mainly because it was a damn fine recording! The Freiburg -based quintet returns to the forefront of German Neo-Prog (a relatively quite scene lately) without any line-up change , generally a very good omen of things to come. Of note, guest Jens Lueck does add keyboards and we have a few strings attached on the last track.
Eight delightfully melancholic tracks to discover, opening the velvet curtains with a nearly 8-minute extravaganza “Heart of Stone”, with lead guitarist Rainer Dück shepherding the dual keyboards of Daniel Perrey and guest Jens Lueck. The romantic slow-burner provides a bluesy shimmer that ultimately uncoils into a stunning power ballad, with lead vocalist Michael Bernauer showing off his considerable Zeppelin-esque lung capacity. Oliver Gerike on bass and drummer Dirk Fenchel rev up the rhythmic engines with turbo-charged glee, as the track hits the prog autobahn in full flight. The expected axe storm gets the bumps nicely goosed, a wholly confident introduction, just where they left off 4 years earlier. Wirklich ausgezeichnet !
“Clouds of Tears” stays pretty much in the same atmospheric pocket, a melancholic segue that soon kicks into gear (a Cydonia specialty, the onus on passion, atmosphere and melody as opposed to rewriting the rock pantheon. It went down very well, danke! It acts as a perfect appetizer for the epic main-course on this album, the romping 13 minute “Father” where the band gets to stretch out without any time or space constraints in creating a poignant homage to a departed parent . The swirling synthesized spotlight is meticulously intriguing, almost like a classic Manfred Mann-feel, the hypnotic bass and drum duo keeping the thin red line to perfection, whilst preserving a melodic content that seeks emotional panacea. Bernauer once again proves his mettle, effortlessly navigating the various turns and slopes with an insistence on meaningful lyrics. I miss my father very single day. He was a great man, even his flaws were understandable. The extended guitar rampage has about as much to say as the lyrics, a rather rare event. Great track.
With a title like “Home”, we stay firmly in context, piano and voice adding a post-scriptum to the previous saga. Another heartfelt plea from the deepest recesses of one’s soul, where one cannot be alone when having a home. Rainer unleashes a classic rock guitar solo, nothing fancy-shmantzy, just gut-busting honesty.
Where there is love, there is often pain, and elation is never far from despondence, it’s the human condition. “Huge Black Hole” is how sometimes the cards are dealt, and the downside is never pleasant. The composition is appropriately heavy, where harder riffs collide with tectonic beats, the ever-raising anger palpable, a vortex axe tornado that viciously remains only skin deep.
Another epic piece, the 8-minute “Sorrow’s Lullaby” seeks to gently reconnect all the impressions stated beforehand. The sunshine replaced by darkness and yet, hope springs eternal. Musically, the theme is almost medieval, pastoral guitars reminding us of Blackmore’s Night as the electric instrument parallels the acoustic one. It’s a playful yet sombre piece, as if attending a torch lit banquet, finding solace ‘at the end of a horrible day’. Those German jesters, always into sturm und drang! The spectral disturbances are compelling and nearly vaporously trance-like until the wah-wah pedal decides to end the siege.
“Guardian Angel” thrusts another massive composition (in the dozen minute range) into the fray, an overarching symphonic display with a rampaging bass, colossal choir backing as well as masterful percussive insertions. Echoing organ, spoken child lyrics and resonating guitar shavings keep the mystery alive. If you wagered that a massive shift is upcoming, you were korrekt! When the melodic force oozes through vocally and instrumentally, the subdued skies scatter in the wind, replaced by bold assertions and a luminosity that shows the road ahead as well as upward. The guitar work is intensely immense. The sentinel of salvation is waiting to show you the way.
Time to lay on the strings, as violin, viola and cello combine to seal the deal on “Enjoy Yourselves” , a positive finale to an album laden with painful memories, desperate outlooks yearning for resolution and someone or something to heal all the pains of the universe. Surely soothing and hopeful, but first, you have to let go of the pain, open your heart to a new destiny. Time waits for no one. Carpe Diem.
4.5 Martian landscapes