Sylvan
- SYLVAN is a German neo prog band with an emphasis on the vocals and a powerful sound driven by keys and guitar. This is prog that seems comfortable in both the neo and metal genres. With their debut album "Deliverance", the German band from Hamburg open the door to this hidden world for all of us. The music takes you into a journey full of miracles,dreams, love, passion and fortune.
The dominant style of Sylvan is a mix of Symphonic Progressive Rock, neo Progressive and Classical Rock including touchs of the Progressive Metal, blended together in a new and interesting way, decorated with lot of intricate keyboards and guitars sounds and grandiose musical passages in all songs. Frequently compared to group like Marillion or IQ, Sylvan successfully adds a new facet to Nineties neo Progressive.
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Posthumous Silence new!!!!!!!
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Presets (News)
(Studio Album, 2007)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music
- When I reviewed Sylvan's previous album Encounters two years ago I was left with mixed feelings. There were some really strong compositions on the album, such as No Way Out and sections of the epic title track like Your Source, All Of It and In Vain. At the same time however the album suffered from too many ideas being cramped into one little silver disc, resulting in an overdosis of tempo and melody shifts that were, even for a seasoned prog rock fan like me, a bit hard to digest. Ideas were rarely fully developed and on top of that the band even sounded a bit pompous and pretentious at times with sections that were maybe a tad to classical or lacked catchy melodies. As such, tracks like Essence of Life and sections of the title track were not the most easy tracks to listen to. Nevertheless, the band really proved that they had great potential. And in October 2002 the full fledged result of that potential saw the light of day with their new album Artificial Paradise.
- Wrapped in the loose concept of casino's (whose sound can be spotted several times on the album) the songs on Sylvan's new album deal with deceitfulness, superficialty and the ups and downs of life and the human nature.
One of the trademarks of Sylvan is the blending of different styles in such a seamless way that their own unique sound develops. At times the band might be compared to Marillion or IQ, while at others they come very close to the prog metal genre, without ever losing their grasp on good melody hooks. This album even sees them venture into territory previously ruled by bands like Spock's Beard or Faith No More ! But more about that later. - All of the musicians of Sylvan show their best sides on Artificial Paradise. Marco Glühmann proves to be one of the best voices in contemporary prog rock with hardly a sign of the dreaded German accent, Matthias Harder puts down some fine drum patterns (just listen to Deep Inside) while Sebastian Harnack supports the music with great bass playing, at times funky and at times suprisingly melodic in a Porcupine Tree kind of way. Finally brothers Kay and Volker Söhl on guitars and keyboards provide many a beautiful or powerful solo.
- After the opening casino sound effects, Deep Inside is a very worthy opener of the album and one of the best tracks on Artificial Paradise. It is a fine example of what Sylvan has to offer on this album; great vocals, catchy rhythms and melodies, fine tension building and climaxes, nice sound effects, surprisingly high quality English lyrics (considering this is normally not the biggest strength of German bands) and fine solos. It is also a tune that once again shows that smart usage of drum computers can actually strengthen the tension building of a good prog rock tune. Bands like Marillion and Spock's Beard have used the same technique recently.
That's Why It Hurts and Human Apologies are two other fine examples of the quality of composing and performance to be found on this album, ranging from sad ballads to agressive rock songs. - Timeless Traces is another highlight and might well be the most beautiful and emotional ballad I've heard this year. It's got one of those guitar solo's which bring tears to your eyes, vocals at times sweet and soothing and at times strong and emotional and basically all of the ingredients and structures to make a classic song. Absolutely brilliant !
- Both Strange Emotion and I Still Believe are rather straightforward rock songs, but very good ones at that, while Souvenirs is a rather forgettable vocal/piano-only tune. Around the World turns out to be a very catchy tune with some of the quirkiness which once was the trademark of Spock's Beard (just listen to the guitar - keyboards 'dialogue').
- The CD comes to a close with the brilliant title track Artificial Paradise, which consists of 5-6 unnamed sections. The epic starts with an instrumental part which reminds me of Voilet District's album Terminal Breath and then moves into a vocal section with fine melodies, which will return near the end of the track. The middle section is one of the most surprising parts of the album and consists of two related segments. The first of these introduces a Porcupine Tree like bass riff and mysterious vocals while the second uses a variation on the same riff for bass and guitar and develops into a fine grungy rap-style which reminded me a lot of Faith No More. After a reprise of the earlier vocal section the track ends with several minutes of casino noises and ambient synths, helping you to catch your breath after almost 70 minutes of splendid music.
- Best moments: The brilliant compositions Deep Inside, Timeless Traces and Artificial Paradise, by themselves almost 40 minutes of material.
Weakest moments: very, very few. The only really weak spot was the silly 80s kraut-pop keyboard ditty at the start of the otherwise fine Human Apologies. The backing vocals in Strange Emotions could have been a bit better as well. For some reason I find them slightly annoying. - The 16-page booklet is beautifully designed with lyrics and photographic artwork supporting the meaning of the lyrics.
- All in all this album is a near masterpiece and one of my favourites of 2002, proving that nowadays some of the best prog rock comes from Germany with bands like Sylvan, Alias Eye and RPWL.
What are you waiting for, check out some of the samples of the tracks yourself ! - X-Rayed" is SYLVAN’s fourth studio album and is following consequently the path taken by their third CD Artificial Paradise. Compared to AP the sound is a little bit more powerful and rough, but without lack of the characteristics of SYLVAN’s music.
Though XR is no real concept album, there exists a global theme, which connects the song with each other. Each song tells the story of a person trying to deal very personally with their individual situation. Those people are ‚x-rayed’ and their inner world displayed.
Posthumous Silence" is SYLVAN's first real concept album. Music and lyrics form a thematic unity and herewith create an emotional masterpiece. It tells the story of a father, who discovers for the first time the life of his lost daughter through her dairy. He gets to know the chains and fears, her search and the consequences of her actions. Those who let theirselves drag deep into the story, will realise, that the life of the daughter is strongly correlated with our own fate and that the responsability of the father is perhaps ours as well.
