LEAFFALL

From the city of open minds, Berlin, comes this German act, found in mid-90's by brothers Jan-Peer Hartmann (guitar, vocals), Nils Hartmann (drums, guitar, vocals) and Falk Hartmann (bass, guitar, vocals).The early line-up featured also Maja Langholz on flutes and voice.Fauns were inspired by the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, often dealing with his landscapes through their lyrics, but their early CDR's and demos were circulating only in inderground circles.In 2001 the band had an expanded line-up with Paul Lesny on guitar and Stefan Ermel on keyboards, unfortunately Ermel tragically passed away two years later, replaced by Mira Stübing on keyboards and Kirsten Middeke on vilons and flutes.Finally the band released the official debut ''LeafFall'' in 2007, mainly consisting of tracks already presented in their earlier works.

Fauns' debut is a well-crafted work of folky Progressive Rock, full of delightful melodies, ethereal atmospheres but also occasional harder moments to spice things up a bit.The tracks are rather long (despite the album's short length, just 40 minutes) with decent to superb arrangements with flutes and acoustic guitars leading the way, supported by keyboards and heavy electric guitars.The vocals, both female and male, are great, having a strong archaic flavor, especially the voice of Maja Langholz is absolutely crystal-clear and dreamy.The production though makes no minunderstanding, giving the group this nice combination of the modern sound with the nostalgic vibes.Very good melodies are offered through the very nice guitar work, elegant and memorable flute parts, the dramatic violin parts and the smooth piano lines, creating intense soundscapes from the past, sometimes built on excellent interplays.At moments the compositions have a light symphonic flavor, thus bringing to mind bands such as compatriots EDEN, HOELDERLIN and REBEKKA.

It is really a shame how this band remained unknown for such a long time, escaping the prog radars.This interesting Progressive Folk Rock with no weak moments make the album strongly recommended...3.5 stars.