SCENERIES

I will always have a place for SYLVAN's music in my home. In particular their masterpiece "Posthumous Silence" from 2004. What an album! Marco's incredible vocals over that melodic, yet at times heavy sound. They are ten studio albums in with their most recent record "One To Zero" from 2021. The same core trio have been here right from that 1998 debut. The singer, keyboardist and drummer, and yes they are on that most recent one too. They actually dropped to a four piece at some point getting rid of the guitarist and using guests for that.

I have their first five studio records, but strangely "Sceneries" is the only one I own of their most recent five. I think I picked the wrong one. So I get that it's been a while for me with this band. I've missed the two albums that follow "Posthumous Silence", so imagine my surprise with this recording. They have changed. Now maybe just for this album as it is a double concept recording worth over 90 minutes. And there's a huge focus on the vocals and lyrics here proving my endless point that concept albums just aren't my thing, at all. This was a band who made such amazing instrumental music. They could rock hard, get emotional, and all in a beautiful melodic style. Here the focus is on the story, there's hardly a focus on the music.

Yes barely 3 stars, unless you like listening to someone sing at nauseam for 90 minutes. Or if you like following at home with the lyric sheet when you listen to your music. I don't. Perhaps their most ambitious work, but I'll stick with "Posthumous Silence" and the three albums before that. I'm not big on their debut.