FETISH

Seven Steps to the Green Door is a collection of very nice collection of diverse modern Neo Prog with very theatric overtones. This young German outfit of seven members wants to entertain you with their style, their storytelling, their musicianship. And they do pretty well here, but, they have a little maturing to do--a little refinement and skill-building to do. But they have a wonderfully creative spirit being expressed through their music--not unlike the Bender family band, INTROITUS. I also find myself feeling a kind of THIEVES' KITCHEN familiarity during several parts of several songs. Female lead singer, Anne TRAUTMANN, has a bit of the Amy DARBY feel while also quite a striking similarity to 80s pop jazz singer, BASIA. Still, some of the band's passages are a bit too imitative of past masters, which makes me a bit afraid for the direction they could travel in the future--a la American band Glass Hammer.

Favorite songs: 1. "Possible Delayed" (0:38) (9/10); 2. "Porn" (8:50) (9/10); the FREQUENCY DRIFT- and THIEVES' KITCHEN-like 7. "Last Lullaby" (9:01) (9/10) and "Ordinary Maniac" (16:10) (8/10), and; 6. "Bound in Chains" (8:53) (8/10).

3.5 stars rated up for mature compositional style.