Presets
What I came away with after ingesting "Presets" is that the disc's makers have probably always been emulating Marillion - no, certainly not surpassing that band creatively or competing with them in popularity either, all of which is just beyond their power. Life itself proved that any attempt to excel those, whose creative work is nowadays regarded as being overall perfect, always leads into a dead-end. Marillion is just one of such bands. It is impossible to develop their work, but it is within reach to imitate it. Some bands try their Fish-era stuff, others their later classic albums, except for "Brave" (I believe it's clear why). Sylvan aren't the first who have chosen "Afraid of Sunlight" and "This Strange Engine", but I can't remember anyone before them who could have so carefully absorbed the essence of these recordings and done something weightier than even a true clone, as they have. No, I am not going to sing the praises of this outfit, besides which I think they'd have done better to make a 100% Marillion clone (as they've introduced a strong AOR feeling to half of the recording's 12 tracks, having additionally been occasionally influenced by some other groups, such as Coldplay or Radiohead), but their "Presets" at least fits the only kind of imitations which I accept. Singer Marco Gluhmann and guitarist Kay Sohl are the main bearers of influences here, their mentors being certainly the two Stevens, Hogarth and Rothery respectively, and since it's only Kay and Marco who are crucial to the disc's sound, both dominating almost everywhere (Volker Sohl is only allowed to demonstrate his true possibilities as a keyboardist on Presets), it is only the title track, lasting for more than twelve-and-a-half minutes, which doesn't completely blend, well, with the disc's prevalent picture or, rather, the rest of the material, revealing for the most part a very original sound, on its vocal angle included. This is a majestic, genuinely progressive tune, the only one with a really diverse instrumental background and plenty of purely instrumental arrangements in general, most of which are equally diverse and compelling, especially those in the Prog-Metal style (which though are part of some vocals sections too). Although short and simple, the ballad Words From Another Day, featuring only vocals and piano, is fine in its own way. The other two longer tracks, One Step Beyond and Former Life, are both as vocal-heavy as any of those yet to be named, though these are richer in different vocal themes. For One Day begins and ends with brief cello passages, while overall, this is the only tune in the set that rocks nearly throughout, resembling the title track of "Holidays in Eden". Never heavy, yet still energetically rather saturated, Cold Suns, When the Leaves Fall Down and Hypnotized, all somewhat remind me of simplified versions of the King of Sunset Town. Signed Away, On the Verge of Tears, Cold Suns, Heal and Transitory Times all can as much resemble the title track of "Afraid of Sunlight" as probably any other ballad from that album, as well as many of those from "This Strange Engine" (which is in fact almost entirely woven of such). --ProgressorListening to new music is quite an experience and sometimes you get things that aren t always what they seem on the surface. Take for example the new Sylvan CD entitled Presets, the band s sixth studio release which was recorded at the same time as the hugely successful concept epic Posthumous Silence of last year. I was not quite prepared for the subtle change in direction presented here. In fact when I first listened to it, I had to keep reminding myself who it was. It was only after a number of spins that I began to fit all of the Sylvan pieces of the puzzle together.***There have been no changes to the band s lineup, Sylvan remains Marco Gluhmann (vocals), Matthias Harder (drums), Sebastian Harnack (bass), Kay Sohl (guitar) and Volker Sohl (keyboards). But while the line-up remains the same, the compositional approach on this disc has changed; at least to my ears. Here the band have taken a more straight forward approach to their song-craft with nine of the twelve tracks coming in at 3 or 4 minutes. Not that that has diminished their ability to craft a great tune, For One Day is simply magical and deserves to be heard on the radio. The three longer songs clock in at 7:14, 7:11 and the title track at 12:42.***Perhaps the biggest change seems to be the overall tone of the music. Listening to Presets, you would never in your wildest dreams think that Sylvan have a harder-edge, almost prog metal history. Here the guitars are nearly buried in a total atmosphere. The musical tone owes more to a sound-style made popular by bands such as Coldplay, Keane or Snow Patrol. Not that Sylvan sound like those bands, but rather that all the instruments seem to fit into the sound like those bands. The crunchy guitar chords only surface in a couple of tracks. Keyboard atmospherics are more prominent here, as is the piano which was admittedly used quite a bit on their last outing. Track Two, Signed Away starts out with some nice Mellotron patches and through most of these songs the guitar appears with a much cleaner sound and less distortion. Don t get me wrong it s a great sound and one that plays well with repeated listenings, it s just that it was a big surprise. The other emphasis that jumps out is on the vocals. Sylvan have always been able to write a good turn-of-phrase and craft a great melody line, and they do that here plenty as on the already mentioned For One Day or When the Leaves Fall Down and Cold Suns. Most of these songs are sort of mid tempo with in some cases very full, lush arrangements. The title track, Presets is perhaps the most complex piece on the CD and the one that most resembles Sylvan s previous efforts, including it s moments of aggression mixed with a soft and pastoral opening.***This is a CD that seems designed to intentionally showcase a different side to Sylvan. It s not really symphonic progressive rock, but rather more a contemporary melding of symphonic elements married to a modern rock sound that has been getting more and popular because of the mainstream bands mentioned above. Some fans of Sylvan will no-doubt wonder what happened, others will have no problem what-so-ever. But this is just the type of recording that could win over many new converts, showing a different side to Sylvan. And that s not a band thing. It s a perfect disc to play for your non-prog friends. --ProgressiveLandI first got acquainted with Sylvan in 2002 with their third release, the incredible Artificial Paradise, an album that mixed melodic, pop, metal and epic Prog in a manner that (in my humble opinion) only Marillion managed to occasionnaly do. I still love that album a lot and listen to it on many occasions.In 2004 they put out the slightly heavier X-Rayed, an album that took me a while to tame, but I have come to enjoy it almost as much as it's predecessor.Last year's Postumous Silence was a gem. A 70+ minute epic track that offers all that a prog lover can wish for.If my information is correct, Presets was recorded at the same time as Postumous Silence but it was decided to offer it one year later so that both albums could reach their market potential. Compared to Postumous Silence the material on Presets is more song based and less heavy. Lets be clear though, we are not talking of 3 - 4 minutes tunes aiming at 12 to 14 year old music fans. All the tracks contain enough musical twist ant turns to be considered full-fledged Prog music and the album ends with a great epic track.Sooo is Presets a good album?? Clearly not... because it's a great album. For sure this will be a TOP FIVE CD in my forthcoming "best of" list of 2007. Sylvan's recipe for making great albums is a simple one. Great writing and composing is the base, a lead singer with a fantastic voice (and the technical skills to go with it) is one of the main ingredients, the others being the musician's fantastic playing, add to that a certain "je ne sais quoi?" as a spice and there you are... The problem with that recipe is that their are not many out there that have the talent to actually "cook it".In conclusion Presets is a "must have" for anyone interested enough in music to read this review. Please purchase this album and then spread the word around.My highest recommendation indeed. --Proggnosis