TIME

Drummer Klaus Engl shared his time between 7 For 4 and his earlier band Serum, but as Serum demised in 2003 he focused on his work with the emerging Heavy Fusion German act, which was now moving on to the recordings of a second album, titled ''Time'' and eventually released on MGI in 2004.Female singer Conny Kreitmeier, who later collaborated with several German acts like Panzerpappa, RPWL or Schizofrantik, participates in one track.

Do not expect any signs of stylistical changes between ''Time'' and ''Contact'', this was another Heavy Prog album by the Germans, fusing primarly the jazzy looseness with other styles such as Heavy Metal, Neo-Classical Music and a bit of Funk.Wolfgang Zenk tries really hard to keep a balance between egoistic guitar manipulations or virtuosic soloing and more melodic offerings, either way or another his repertoire includes complex hooks and twists along with furious soloing, characterizing more or less the material played by the whole band.While acts such as PLANET X or LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT are the obvious comparisons, I can even here echoes of vintage groups such as FOCUS or RUSH in 7 For 4's material, from the old-styled jazzy fests of JAN AKKERMAN to the powerful leads of ALEX LIFESON.Like many contemporary Heavy Rock and Prog Metal acts, 7 For 4 have an evident tendency to add some Classical terms in their music.Keyboard parts are great, ranging from frenetic flashes to dominant runs with the piano providing even some Avant-Garde lines in the process.The result is an album of almost all instrumental music for fans of Tech Prog Rock and Metal with endless thematic turns.Only exception comes from ''Where are you now'', the track that features the performance of Conny Kreitmeier, and sounds like a mix of KING CRIMSON-ian Fusion with Alternative Rock, pretty decent but a bit out of the album's mood.

I can't say that ''Time'' is close to the masterful tracks composed by LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT, but there is some great instrumental stuff contained in here and if you like technical but balanced Prog Fusion with a heavier edge this is a very good effort.Recommended.