pluggedin2progressiverock

I’ve been an admirer of this German neo progressive band since their 2006 release, “Posthumous Silence” which many fans believe to be their finest work to date. Their latest is titled “Home” and features the single “Shine” that immediately “caught” my ear and blew me away.  Like the aforementioned “Posthumous Silence” this is a conceptual journey.  The 12 tracks on this 2015 release tell the story of how the leading character rediscovers long-forgotten childhood memories of pain and sadness.  The track begins simply enough with piano, straightforward bass and subdued drumming from Volker Sohl, Sebastian Harnack and Matthias Harder respectively.  It builds to feature Marco Gluhmann’s powerfully haunting vocals that evoke an intense sense of urgency with the refrain:  Out of the dark, please shine, my child, don’t cry!  Against all this pain, please fight, despite… please try!  No silly love songs here.  There’s a radical change to a metal riff before the track returns to it’s earlier sensibility.  Here new guitarist Jonathan Beck offers some tasty licks on this evocative cut.  I’ve included the video for “Shine” here.  Check It out.  Sylvan is a shining example of the appeal of progressive rock to musicians from around the world.  It’s certainly not music to dance to. You just have to appreciate the sheer musicianship and storytelling of gifted artists whose life experiences often have occurred far removed from our own.