SYLVAN - Sceneries

Kategorie: CD-Reviews | Genre: Prog, Artrock | Heft: Jahrgang 2012, eclipsed Nr. 137 / 2-2012 | VÖ-Jahr: 2012 | Wertung: 8/10 | Label: Sylvan Music | Autor: MB


"Sceneries" could be Sylvan's opus magnum, if... if there wasn't already a concept album called "Posthumous Silence". This continues to occupy an exceptional position in the work of the Hamburg-based company. The band has also conceptualized "Sceneries", but they don't tell a continuous story here. Rather, the five longtracks represent five chapters. Each of them represents a self-contained storyline. What unites them is the representation of the search for the truly important things in life. Critics, listen to your traps: Not for the first time would Sylvan be accused of being overambitious and too top-heavy. A throw-in, which will probably become loud again with this approach and the total playing time of over 90 minutes. But, as always, it's the big emotions that make up Sylvan's core. Emotional piano poetry, brilliant guitar melodies and Marco Glühmann's beguiling melancholy singing run like a red thread through the five chapters, which from a certain point in time during the production were each determined by a band member. One can accuse "Sceneries" of moving too much in gently rocking, melancholic terrain. Runaways like the heavy-dark first part of "The Words You Hide" or the third part of "Farewell To Old Friends" (Dream Theater greet!) are actually just the proverbial exception to the rule. But the quintet always has its finest moments when it allows itself to indulge in epic widescreen format. The grandiose finale of "The Fountain Of Glow" is the best example. Even if with "Posthumous Silence" they could bring their qualities a little better to the point: All in all, Sylvan's "Sceneries" emphatically underline her exceptional position within the German music scene.

Top track: The Fountain Of Glow

Back to overview