This German band’s debut album caught me, as well as many others by surprise, an unexpected delight. ‘Six Tales of Perception’ came out in 2024, and I was overjoyed to have reviewed it, egged on by the realization that Robert Kohler was a member of German prog band Inquire which I had quite relished in the past, the end result being a highly acclaimed debut rating. Still manned by two software engineers who decided to wander into musical territory and write symphonic prog can only be best described as a smart challenge to undertake and even more so, to make it successful. Keyboardist Kohler and guitarist/vocalist Dirk Krause then merged their talents as a creative force, with a unique style within a well-travelled genre. As with the debut, guest drummer Gerry Wassong handles all things percussive.
“Guide to Unobtainium” (a Latinized /scientific bastardization of Unobtainable) launches the hour-long into orbit with a comfortable blast-off, Dirk’s voice soothingly pleasant amid all the keyboard asteroids swooping in the space behind the microphone. The synthesizer design in particular is both bubbly and luminous. No apparent sign of electric guitars yet, an interesting detail.
Quatsch! (nonsense), “Real?” immediately solves the issue as here come the buzzsaw axes, the guitars joined by the bass in unison, chopping away at my presumptuous comment. The hustling tone is electric and vigorous, without necessarily being heavy or loud, more like a feisty Mercedes race car flung along the autobahn, no brake pedal in sight, a modern rock assault that leisurely veers midway into a dreamier furrow, where the Kohler keyboards takes over and the bass helping the subtlety penetrate the arrangement. The second half of this stunning piece is addictive, but the trio reverts to the initial fury to finish off the situational irony of high expectations.
Something very serious happens here. A masterful enterprise is undertaken with three tracks covering nearly 23 minutes and the fateful core of this album. “Maps Part1” takes the adventure to another twist of the story unfolding, Krause singing like a romantic crooner in softer realms, surfing on a sea of synthesized pleasure, a throttling axe splurge to keep the agony going. There will be a “Maps Part 2” , once the fifteen-mile excursion into an epic 10-minute trek in the desert, searching for the mystical “Valley of the Deep”. The Oriental-tinge is unmistakable, the growling organ caravan showing no remorse in the mirage-laden imagery, the sun suddenly broiling, the tea kettle boiling and the Seraglio blowing up a sandstorm on the endless horizon. This is one hell of a cinematographic highlight, expertly woven like the finest silk, close one’s eyes and flutter into fantasy land of sonic wonder. There’s the rub, it may have sounded like crossover before but now, its outright symphonic. The second Maps chapter keeps the mood glowing, cleverly incorporating the two previous sections, welded together by a titanic mellotron torrent that should blow your tropical helmets into the furthest oasis (if there is one anywhere close). The lyrics on the intoxicating chorus encompass the spirit perfectly ‘Let’s forget the world we live in, let’s embrace the hope we feel’ and ‘Lets accept the deal and give in. Let’s pretend the map is real’. Sign of times, wot? One hell of an epic this, as the Brits say ‘No over-egg the pudding here’.
The bar is set very high in the sky, but “Sadness” keeps the atmosphere alight with a drop-dead perfect segue, a distressed melodic embrace that exudes so much passion and feeling, it’s hard not to gulp in admiration. Yearning for some kind of eventual salvation, the hushed Krause voice only adding enigma to the endless ache, the instrumental melodicism and attention to detail simply off the charts and compelling, ‘and you are left with the words that only you can hear’. Shifting to “Before My Eyes”, the acoustic guitars and melancholic style coming straight out classic Strawbs pantheon, liquid synthesizer and flowing organ adornments, all within a pastoral, countrified setting, I could not help feeling relief from all the previous symphonic overload having pounded me into willing submission. This is utter mellotron panacea and absolutely gorgeous.
“Exit Right” as the title may imply, restores a more reflective sombreness, the lyrics particularly indicative of the overtly complexity we all seem to drown in, stressed by endless beeps, flickers and dross. The two steps forward, three steps back syndrome. The synths seem to cry, the bass grumbling along and the guitars bellowing in raging afterthought. “But the code has a bug in its logic’, well two software engineers should know.
The up-front and bellicose bass is simply wonderful on “Scene of A Crime”, a suspenseful foray into detective work, lest we forget that the who and mostly the why come much later, when and where always the first to be determined. We often get that wrong as well, as lying is the oldest subterfuge. The arrangement favours all kinds of spooky and dramatic sounds, as if created with a wink to Gowan’s Criminal Mind classic or Falco’s Jenny (if you are unaware, look them up !), this case owns the same ‘guilty as charged’ vibe. The extended axe solo is, excuse the pun…killer!
“Dreamers” is the welcome finale, as it suggest a positive outcome, after all the twists and turns on the roller coaster of life, we get to rest, and hopefully dream, a merciful reprieve from all the stress daily life can provide at will, seemingly. Imperfect silence, perhaps, but still peace.
I gave very high marks to the debut and deservedly so. I never thought this could be even better. Its amazing.
5 Handbooks to nothing