SOPHISTICATED

It's one of the times that I feel frustrated why this band hasn't gained more visibility. Perhaps they are too heavy for the pure prog fans and too jazz/funk/complex for the prog metal fans, who knows. The band's core (which consists of Oliver and Alex Holzwarth, bass and drums respectively) decided to replace Jogi Kaiser who sang on A Sense of Change with Greg Keller and the guitarist Markus Steffen with Wolfgang Zenk. No disservice to the former, but, to my ears, his voice was the weak link on ...Change. Still, the German pronunciation is occasionaly too evident, but overall I think it is a great improvement. So we have a world class line-up on the instruments, but this in itself means absolutely nothing because it is the music that matters. I'll take a stab and label it as prog metal with some jazz, funk and fusion touches. The changes of themes are almost constant, still they gel together so naturally that are mind- blowing. The longest composition barely passes the 7-minute mark, but the guys have crammed so many riffs in them that other bands would spred them in 20+ minute compositions. Unending, thrilling, terrific, to the point of terrifying, creativity. The drums are no less than seminal, the bass grooves at all times over the most complex rhythms and patterns and as regards the guitar I have a soft spot when Zenk goes for clean sound, absolutely precise playing. Everything is so, well, sophisticatedly crafted. I'm not exaggerating the slightest when I tell you this album has set new standards for me. To my aesthetic, only the cover falls short!

Since it is extremely hard to get this album, those confounded streaming services may come in handy for once to listen even that way to this flawless music.

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