INTO THE WILD

The band is the project of Markus Roth with the help of guitarist Achim Wierchem and others. The first album released in 2015 was showing some potential . The new album has been made with the help of some new guest musicians. The album showcase some great musicianship with Sebastian Schleicher playing some exquisite guitars, and Markus on the keyboard, and piano parts. This album has plenty of long instrumental passages of floating symphonic prog rock with a little dose of metal which sounds modern despite some influence from the old school of prog rock. The compositions here have improved a lot from the first album. ''Seven Doors'' with his 14 minutes push all the right buttons bringing on on a pleasant journey by using many instruments to create a lot of texture to the music. While no violinist is credited here, there is some recorded sound of the violin here. The short ''Criminal Mind'' song brings a new mood in the jazz territory with a bit of cool singing and that haunting keys sound. In the next songs, the band infuses a Prog Metal in the Drem Theater style with some lighter parts by bringing the pace down. That leads to the final big epic, and the title track bringing some beautiful flute and piano parts to set the mood before the music gets many twists and turns like a typical long prog rock song. I give this 4.5 stars.

German project MARQUETTE is the creative vehicle for composer and musician Markus Roth. While veteran musician Achim Wierschem was involved in the first Marquette album, as of 2020 Roth now appears to be the sole driving force of this venture. "Into the Wild" is the second album to be crafted under the Marquette moniker, and was released in the summer of 2020 through German label Progressive Promotion Records.

I wouldn't be all that surprised if Marquette's second album "Into the Wild" made it into quite a few of the best of 2020 lists some people enjoy to write down in late December. The compositions are subtly quirky and challenging, but without being overtly so, the musicianship is excellent, as is also the case for mix and production. Eclectic, mainly instrumental progressive rock is the overall name of the game, and those who find music described in this manner to be interesting should give this album a spin. On a small side note, there's a very minor treat in store here for Swedish listeners, one I suspect they'll appreciate when they encounter all three instances of it.

This is the second album from Marquette, the brainchild of keyboard player, Markus Roth who is probably best known for Horizontal Ascension (melodic prog rock) and Force of Progress (instrumental prog, metal, jazz fusion). His approach to this album is to reduce the number of notes being played in the instrumental sections to give it a more mainstream sound, and while the debut was a two-man project with associated guests he says that it has now become more of a group. Although not a concept album as such, it was inspired by the life of Christopher McCandless who travelled through the US with minimal equipment and no money in a quest to become one with nature, and apparently starved to death in Alaska aged just 24.

I know this has been receiving good reviews in some areas, but I cannot help thinking that the best thing about this release is the artwork, which is quite powerful. There are long instrumental sections, which are preferable to the vocals as Maurizio Menendez sometimes sings in a style that is almost talking, and this just does not work for me at all. But musically this contains sections which are almost muzak, often repetitive, and frequently feel forced and laboured. If Roth really has made a conscious effort to make this more palatable to a wider audience, then he really should not have bothered. There are undoubtedly some great musicians playing on this, but for me it really does feel like an opportunity wasted as there is a lack of coherency, and one soon starts to wonder when it going to end. There are a couple of long tracks on here, one at more than 14 minutes and one at 19, but just making them long does not mean they will be any good. It is a shame as there are some really interesting passages and interplay at times, especially when the guitar and keyboards set up some duels and runs, but it is just not enough to make the album sufficiently enjoyable as it lacks cohesion throughout.