Neo-Prog
Germany
Formed in 1988, German outfit VIOLET DISTRICT, at first called INCUBUS, started out as a band supporting various local bands at concerts. YES, MARILLION and PINK FLOYD were their most important musical influences; all of which they wanted to incorporate in their own material.
The band soon found out that it would be an advantage to record a CD to be able to expand outside of their local area, and in 1992 their debut album "Terminal Breath" saw the light of day, and was generally well received. Indeed, German label BMG Ariola got interested in the band, but sadly not interested enough to sign the act it turned out.
Various line-up changes combined with the band not being able to expand any further saw to it they eventually disbanded in 1997. Two of the members from the final line-up; Karlheinz Wallner (guitar) and Chris Postl (bass) would later resurface with RPWL a few years later, along with amongst others Jürgen "Yogi" Lang, who was a guest musician and producer on "Terminal Breath".
The other musicians involved with VIOLET DISTRICT were Thomas Falkner (bass), Christian Brenninger (drums) and Mischa Schleypen (vocals, keyboards).
This is an outstanding German neo-symphonic progressive rock album. The first thing that is noticeable are the lead vocals: they amazingly sound like Klaus Meine (SCORPIONS). 5 musicians are involved, including 2 keyboardists. The music has a very good balance between bass, drums, guitars, vocals and keyboards. The tracks are professionally recorded: the arrangements, sometimes sounding like short strokes applied on common violins, are really refined, and the rhythm is always changing. The tracks are not joyful, but I do not find them depressing. There are some percussive clean & rhythmic guitar like on JADIS' "More than meets the eye". The tracks are very varied, and they are all very progressive. Usually the tracks are not extremely complex or loaded and the rhythm is rather SLOW, so that you can clearly hear all the instruments. The keyboards are quite modern, sometimes floating, sometimes rhythmic or melodic. It must be mentioned that the atmospheric dimension provided by the miscellaneous keyboards and clean guitars is omnipresent, while amazing melodic arrangements take place, and this makes the musical style involved to be unique and VERY pleasant to hear. The lead & backing vocals are VERY emotional, insistent and varied. All the tracks are excellent! No fillers! There are some excellent melodic guitar solos, very moving and never bland.
How does it all sounds like? The songs are different from each other: the best comparison I can have is JADIS: the rhythmic guitar sounds quite alike, except it is less hard rock here; the solos are obviously less elaborated and extreme here, but nevertheless they are very good. The keyboards sound a bit like JADIS' "More than meets the eye" (Martin ORFORD), except here they are more elaborated and merge less with the rhythmic guitars, unlike JADIS' "More than meets the eye".
Don't miss the unbelievable vocals exchanges on "Some Reverend Words"
EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED!
ALBUMS:
2000 - TERMINAL BREATH (REMASTER - 2 CDS)
Musicians
- Mischa Schleypen / vocals, keyboards
- Karlheinz Wallner / guitars, backing vocals
- Giselher Richter / keyboards
- Chris Postl / bass
- Christian Brenninger / drums
- Jürgen Lang / additional keyboards, backing vocal
CD 1: (54:21) - Terminal Breath + Bonus
1. Lustreless Fright (6:10)
2. Ego (0:53)
3. Anuishes of a Scoundrel (5:10)
4. Hommage to the Irretrievably Lost (7:43)
5. Assurance (6:55)
6. Together we Fall (3:46)
7. Necessary Goodbyes (5:22)
8. Age Theme (1:26)
9. The Age (4:24)
10. Down and Away (12:05)
Look!!
CD 2: (54:30) - Live at Feierwerk Munich 1996
1. Necessary Goodbyes (5:39)
2. Capilary Action (10:20)
3. Lustretless Fright (5:57)
4. Ego (0:54)
5. Hommage to the Irretrievably Lost (9:19)
6. Principles of Alternation (12:51)
7. Down and Away (9:30)
Look!!
Total Time: 108:51
