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The other day I found myself thinking about the changing
nature of progressive rock music. How there seem to be so
many bands today producing music that is so much more aggressive
and yet not really what you would classify as prog-metal.
It tends to be so much more. This new music employs much of
the metal crunch but still incorporates many other quieter
or softer elements. I started to wonder if this was perhaps
a new strain of progressive rock being created. And then the
brand new Sylvan hit my mailbox. Entitled Posthumous Silence
it is the epitome of all I had been thinking about in terms
of musical styles. ***
This is Sylvan's fifth studio effort and as such Posthumous
Silence is a reflection of where so much progressive rock
seems to be moving. This five-piece from Germany is made up
of Marco Gluhmann (vocals), Matthias Harder (drums), Sebastian
Harnack (bass), Kay Sohl (guitar) and Volker Sohl (keyboards).
After a number previous bands they became Sylvan in the summer
of 1997. ***
Overall Posthumous Silence is hugely symphonic in nature
with the added influence of stronger guitars and rhythm section.
And yet it is soft and gentle when the story needs it to be
and powerfully aggressive when that is the emotion required.
This is also Sylvan's first concept CD and it revolves around
the story of a father who mourns the loss of his daughter
as he reads excerpts from her diary, a diary that seems to
have been written specifically for him. This is a powerfully
emotional tale and when wedded to the music and subtle sound
effects of dialog it create a cinematic masterpiece. The seventy-minutes
of music here propel the story along with shorter linking
pieces connecting the longer tracks that develop the story,
much of it flowing together seamlessly. It is guitar-heavy
and crunchy in one part of the song, then ambient and spacious
in the next. The compositions go from being straight ahead
rock oriented to more complex arrangements incorporating changing
time and tempo. Underlying the entire concept are powerful
melodies that will stick with you for days. Track twelve,
"Answer to Life" is a classic example of Sylvan's work is
this regard. Musically in this composition there's lots going
on and yet the track is held together with an amazing anthemic
vocal melody. ***
This is symphonic progressive rock on steroids and I
mean that in a good way: soft and gentle one moment and masterfully
aggressive the next. It occurs to me Sylvan are really doing
what progressive rock has always done, using amazing music
to tell a story. And they do it in a totally modern manner.
Sylvan's Posthumous Silence is everything progressive rock
was meant to be. As a father of a daughter, Posthumous Silence
proved to be a very emotional listening experience. This is
a fantastic recording and certainly highly recommended. ***
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