Sylvan are a German progressive rock band with a sound akin to Porcupine Tree meets Glass Hammer. We last saw them on the Music Project in #486 where we established that in the time between #90 and #486 I’d started to like them a little bit.
Music, as we discuss here frequently, is fluid and stains us all culturally, often indelibly, whether we like it or not. Sometimes, like a litchen it grows on us, others it lingers like a canker in the background waiting for something to trigger our memories and once more raise the sound to prominance. Perhaps it’s a tribal thing or something inherent in our psyche or physiology. No doubt someone somewhere is musing on this problem and will have the answer no sooner as the Philosophy Factory opens for business.
Leaving Backstage is the band’s live album from their 10th Anniversary Tour, something pretentious prog bands tend to do – release fan pleasing milestone live albums – I suppose its a good way to discover a band’s music and capabilities much in the way I did in years gone past with Yes and their many many live album compilations, serving, if anything to show a cut off point in style and sound a la bands like Flowing Tears or Nightwish.
Since we last met Sylvan with their release Artificial Paradise, I’ve actually grown to like them more. I’ll even go as far to say Artificial Paradise is quite a clever little concept album and deserves more ear time. Force of Gravity is another one of those albums that have not had anywhere near the amount of ear time as I would have liked. Getting old sucks kids, don’t do it.
Artificial Paradise – Sylvan
Stegzy's Music Project 