NOVALIS

This is a band that I feel probably should be more well known than they are, but probably aren't because most of the world doesn't speak German and a lot of people only like music in languages that they can understand. I personally don't understand very much German, but I really do appreciate this band, and even though I don't know what the lyrics mean, I can get a good sense of the feeling from the vocal delivery. The singing isn't the best I've ever heard, but it seems to suit the music. The music is organ dominated symphonic rock for the most part. The first song, Sonnengeflecht, is an instrumental piece dominated by a synth lead backed by some guitars with some nice wah effects. Eventually the clavinet takes over, giving the song a sort of funky feel. Then we get the first song with vocals, Wer Schmetterlinge lachen Hört, which is an extremely varied piece. It starts off a bit mellow and then the vocals come in, still mellow. When it gets to the extended instrumental section, the track builds up into a very rocking number, with some great guitar solos and organ work, before going back to the mellow feel for the last few verses. Next we get another short instrumental, Dronsz, an atmospheric keyboard dominated piece. After that is Impressionen, based on a theme from Bruckner's fifth symphony. It's another instrumental, like much of the album, but I think this is the strongest one out of them all. It's longer, and they explore the theme in many different ways, while adding in their own sections. The album ends with Es färbte sich die Wiese grün, with lyrics from the band's namesake, the German poet Novalis. It's a strong track to end the album with, and has alternating mellow/harder sections, with the lyrical sections being mellow. My copy has a bonus track of Impressionen being performed live. It doesn't have the best quality, but the performance is excellent, and it's good to see that the band could pull of these songs live very well.