MERLIN

A really obscure 80's German band with little info around their history and an even more well- hidden career.Sure thing is Merlin hailed from Marburg and the first line-up included female singer/flutist Christiane Schwab, drummer Christoph Zimmerman, guitarist/bassist Marcus Haase and keyboardist Nikolaus Wolters.Their self-titled debut LP from 1984 was a private release, recorded in September of the same year at Blackfield Studios in West Germany.

''Merlin'' was sort of an Art Rock album with strong hints from Psychedelic Rock, Cabaret Music and Symphonic Rock.And while the opening ''Picture song'' has sort of a RENAISSANCE atmosphere led by the Baroque mood created by Wolters' piano and the sensational vocals of Schwab, the rest of the album is not equally strong.It definitely has some nice tracks recalling also EARTH AND FIRE and CAROL OF HARVEST with Schwab's voice sounding a lot like the one of Beate Krause, but it lacks the God-sent talent and consistency of these bands.Most of the tracks have a light symphonic feeling , either being acoustic or electric, created by the delicate piano lines, the lovely synthesizer parts and the elegant flute passages.Other ones recall CAROL OF HARVEST, featuring emphatic piano parts blended with a strong rhythym section and Schwab's dominant yet crystalline voice.The rest are the less interesting ones, which have a more artistic and commercial feeling, sometimes close to Cabaret Music, dominated by fast piano paces, groovy beats and a really cool but incovenient atmosphere compared to the album's more progressive compositions.

An album, which deserves the attention of fans of female-fronted prog bands, especially the ones aforementioned.A satisfying but far from essential mix of Prog, Art Rock and Pop Music.