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I’ve always admired bands that have the courage to change their
style between albums. It’s safe to make the same sort of albums, all
the time, so your fans won’t leave you. But you win some and you
loose some.
Off course, the change cannot be too drastic. We had some examples
in the past. The step to Abacab by Genesis was never accepted by the
fans, but gave them fame and money. The changes that Marillion made
were certainly not well received by everyone.
Poor Genetic Material did it in a more subtle way. They still play
neo-prog music but they made it all a bit more relaxed, even a bit
ambient, with some soundscapes built in. It certainly hasn’t become
an easier album to get into. The first time I listened to it, I was
convinced that it was not as good as their previous album, “Leap
Into Fall”, but after a few times I’m changing my mind. It’s less
prog and it takes them sometimes too long to get to the point.
”Sharp Bends Sudden Crests” opens with a “Mama” (Genesis) rhythm (a
bit faster, so it sounds even like “She Drives Me Crazy” from FYC),
but you soon forget the reference as they create something
completely different on this rhythm. Again Philip Griffiths from
Alias Eye is stealing the show with his soft, melancholic voice.
Philipp Jaehne is certainly one of the main reasons this albums
sounds more ambient, with his laidback full synth sounds that
support every moment of this CD, while Stefan often plays a
different melody against the vocal line and gives subtle extras to
every song. The drums sound a bit too perfect, as if they come from
a machine. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not?
“Whitescape” is a good example of what I meant with a soundscape. A
(too) long intro that very slowly builds up, with some wonderful
bass lines by Dennis, some psychedelic guitar sounds and the
keyboard giving an underlying support. After some splendid vocal
lines there’s an acoustic middle piece where Stefan is duelling with
himself on acoustic and electric guitar. I wonder how they would
manage that on stage. The same question can be asked about the
vocals. I think the double voice I hear is twice the voice of
Philip, so it would give some difficulties to perform this live. The
outro is a (again too) long fade out.
“Hugging Horses” also starts with a quiet intro but soon changes
into a more rhythmic track with lots of piano and guitar. This song
comes the nearest to their previous album, with more rhythm changes
and a beautiful chorus with a conversation between a singing voice
and a narrator.
I left “Protean Profile” for you to judge, as there’s an mp3 link in
the setlist.
The last three tracks form a unity and they are the highlight of
this album. A lot of quiet and faster pieces with lots of variation
and great Hammond playing. It contains more action than the rest of
the tracks.
The beautiful artwork is from Oliver Schollenberger from his series
“Winter’s Edge I-VII”.
If both “Leap Into Fall” and “Winter’s Edge” were cut out of the
same wood I could tell you to buy one of them. But now I can only
advise you to buy them both. After “Summerlands”, “Leap Into Fall”
and “Winter’s Edge”, there are great expectations for what Spring
will bring us. |
