SYLVAN: Sceneries (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

90 minutes: that's the time it will take you to assimilate Sylvan's eighth album Sceneries, a concept divided into five long suites on 2 CDs. 90 minutes, that's still the time you'll have to take into account when multiplying the listening of this new album marked with the seal of "Deutsche Qualität". Indigest menu ? Certainly not when you know the propensity of the German band to offer us tracks with unstoppable melodies and careful accompaniments.

A little flashback, to remind us of the arrival of the fiery Jan Petersen, who had clearly darkened the band's purpose on 'Force Of Gravity'. Here, the metallic velleities are almost forgotten, except for a little overhang on 'The Waters I Traveled', a sequel that ensures the dark side of the album. The rest of the time, we're rather dealing with a rather melancholic overall tone, very characteristic of Sylvan, generally declined on a mid-tempo, alternating semi-acoustic passages and "big sound" choruses. The whole is thus regularly generating emotions that raise one's spirits (Share The World With Me in particular). The traditional guitar soli are always delivered with accuracy, without adding more, and embellish a little more the rich melodies of the different compositions.

The sequence of the multiple themes, which could be disturbing during the first listenings, reveals in the end a solid coherence and a unity sticking wonderfully to the very subject of the concept. Once again, without revolutionizing the neo-progressive genre, Sylvan stands out from the competition by the irreproachable quality of his compositions, served by a production well above average.

The second part of the album follows a darker but also more dynamic logic, with the highlight being the third part of 'Farewell To Old Friends', allowing our friend Petersen to unfreeze his fingers on his guitar, in a frenzy reminiscent of a certain Angus Young in 'Thunderstruck'! Sylvan also comes to ogle towards a perfectly assumed pop side (Part 2 of the same suite), before closing the whole in a majestic finale.

And then, while the vocals often proves to be the weak point of many progressive rock bands, how can we not insist on the fact that Marco Glühmann is a great singer: who could still doubt it after this extraordinary performance? Modulating his voice from low to high pitched, keeping accuracy, strength and emotion, he manages to transmit great emotions, as much in the intimate passages as in the passages with very rich instrumentations.

Two years ago, we wrote in these columns that following a masterpiece such as 'Posthumous Silence', each new production would necessarily be compared to this monument. With the publication of 'Sceneries', Sylvan can now base his excellent discography on a second exceptional album, which inevitably ranks this group among the greatest. - Official website

SYLVAN

SCENERIES

AUTOPRODUCTION

PROGRESSIVE ROCK