RPWL

Fine tunes to progressive rock service, threads that are built upon competent rhythm section and well designed. Full of synthesizers, bass guitar blunt. Thoughtful rhythm guitars, with great sonic flight. Drums powerful and energetic when appropriate, and quiet, if it must. Always accurate. The songs are making great climates and summits.

From my perspective is the most personal album, and original. A good tour of 6000 years of history, reviewing different ideologies.

The production is much better and more polished than before. And highlights the musical virtues of each member.

Yogi Lang's voice is more refined and makes good use of its peculiarities. Not frightened by the extent of the work. Not monotonous or tiresome.

A Long, But Extremely Elegant And Sophisticated Odyssey.

'Beyond Man and Time' is the eight studio album by German Prog Rock band RPWL, and this is the band's first great step towards being a much more singular band: because they use to be a Pink Floyd tribute band, they never really lost the grip of their roots, but with this eight album it seems that they're starting to free themselves from that.

First of all, the production of the album is the best the band has ever pulled off; it's extremely clear and sharp, and warmly welcomes the smallest of details to be audible. Details that are for the most part created by the lush, abundant synthesizers, so thick sometimes that it almost feels that you're listening to a New Age record. The thick presence of electronic generated sounds unmasks what the band's evolution is really going towards, a direction that takes to Neo-Prog, more specifically Marillion Hogarth-era. RPWL have also improved their songwriting skills tenfold, which guarantees a top-notch quality for nearly all of the songs here.

But the band still remains very Progressive in their nature, extending their songs to an average length of seven to nine minutes, and including a sixteen minute monster as a second-to-last track. All of these tracks are carefully and elegantly executed by these great musicians, who prove to be able to structure songs neatly and with fabulous flow. Even in the flow of the album as a whole shines: of course, the fact that 'Beyond Man and Time' is a concept album ( each song represents a character, who himself represents a specific philosophy of ideology) motivates a more fluent run of the tracks.

As far as specific songs go, some of the best include the lively 'the Ugliest Man in The World', the more pondering 'We Are What We Are', which has the most amazing keyboard solo of the album, the epic sixteen minute track 'The Fisherman', the polymorphic beast of the LP, or the more groovy and straightforward 'The Shadow'. The album comes near to being a fantastic release: next time, perhaps the band should make something a bit shorter, since this record does run for about 80 minutes. Despite that, the listen is thoroughly entertaining; there's only to hope that the band soon puts out their masterpiece.

This album is definitely one of the masterpieces in my thousands of prog rock album collection. This is not because the singer sounds like Pink Floyd but because their music is simply the one that strikes everybody who likes "music". If you hear this album, surely you will be hooked by Masters Of War which is a cover of Bob Dylan's, but this cover is by far better than that of Pearl Jam's or others. As this case shows, RPWL is not a prog hero but a modern music hero of today. This album has everything that prog fan prefers. Five star.

Vocalist Yogi Lang adds a breathy vocal to a spacy atmosphere punctuated by Kalle Wallner's acoustic backing on the first real song, "We Are What We Are". After a relatively standard song build up, we get the first opportunity to hear Yogi's keyboard styling's. (I credit Yogi with the solo as the style is similar to that of the title track to "World Through My Eyes" of which Yogi was the only listed keyboard player, verified by live Youtube performances). His solo at the five minute mark highlights the unique style that he adds to the band with just the right combination of melody and noodling.

"Unchain the Earth" is one of my favorite songs of the year. Despite my earlier statement that they've found their own sound, this particular song could have easily been found on "The Division Belle". It's a poppy (seven minute) song chock full of riffs and lines that stick to you like macaroni and cheese on a cold Tuesday in Boston.

"Ugliest Man on Earth", is a nice bit of alternating acoustic and heavier bits with a killer 'wall of sound' that hits you out of nowhere, another example of chaos materializing into the perfect chord. We do get a blistering Hammond solo towards the end of this song, which I'm attributing to Markus Jehle (again, verified by youtube) as the style is noticeably different from Mr. Lang's.

One negative about RPWL is their sparing use of backing vocals. This is especially noticeable on "The Wise in the Desert", the chorus feels like it needs a little more. My belief is that the band needs to add capable backup singers. I'll hearken back to "World Through My Eyes" which is my favorite song by RPWL, it has a killer chorus with multiple layers of Mr. Lang's voice creating a series of harmonies that are absolutely fantastic and possibly the defining character of the song. The problem though was especially apparent on "Start the Fire", their live CD that came out shortly after "World Through My Eyes". "World Through My Eyes" the song that I loved so much absolutely did not translate well to a live setting, the backing vocals were missing and it was really disappointing. Sorry, that was a lot of words to say that 'needs more backing vocalists'.

While we're going off on tangents, I've never been to Boston.

"The Fisherman" hearkens back to the Indian sounds of (again) "World Through My Eyes", which gives a unique and exotic flair to the epic before going on a tour of vintage sounds. This leads directly into a nice airy guitar solo by Mr. Wallner over a tight 15/8 back beat punctuated by bursts of screaming Hammond only to trade back to the lofty guitar solo. The song even has a sprawling, Roine Stolt style epic ending . . . but wait, rather than the expected big finish we get a whirlwind tour of the epic, summarizing it nicely before a last verse to send us off to the previously expected grandiose ending.

All in all, RPWL is another spacy band somewhere between Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree. The keys are fantastic through and through while the rest of the band is pretty good as well. "Beyond Man and Time" is easily one of their best and a solid four star CD. If you like good production, atmosphere and a spacy vibe, check this one out.

I went to Germany and saw them in Unna doing the whole album, start to finish to an audience of about 100. Brilliant as I could stand where I liked and got to chat to the band afterwards too. However, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. If this was released in the 1970's or even 80's, it would have been huge. The show reminded me in presentation of early Genesis. Little budget so impact by lots of costumes, projectors and minimal lighting. Very good and hugely enjoyable. i hope they get to come to the UK.

Its a concept album, but with no weaknessess at all. Its accessable yet also grows on you the more you listen. I think its beauty lies in its variety, but each track is very very good, some better. Unchain the Earth is just brilliant and should be played on the radio as it would definately catch on in a slightly stripped down radio edit. Yet there is lots of hard core Prog too, The Fisherman is a classic. Lots of Floyd influence but others too including Porcupine Tree, Hogarth Marillion, and even Genesis. I don't think its a concious thing, it just comes out in certain situations I guess.

Buy it, you won't regret it.

Despite sporting (perhaps) the worst name in progressive rock, RPWL is showing a sincere desire to do things right. They will not throw musical pyrotechnics at your face with this record, but more of a painting. A painting that could not hold your attention fully, but the more and more you take time to look a it, you slowly discover it's true nature.

Is the ghost of Pink Floyd too present? Yes and No. The reminiscences of Pink Floyd are plenty, but not unpleasant at all, at least not for a Division Bell fan. Lang's voice for instance, is certainly Gilmour- oriented, but who doesn't like his tone? I personally regret that Gilmour's voice is such in short supply these days; it's so soothing and rolling like a white billiard ball on a thick green carpet. I certainly won't moan about it for sure.

Apart from the Division Bell/ Momentary Lapse approach, the record is showing more layers than you think. Porcupine Tree and/or Pineapple Tree is showing it's nose, but not staying too long; like the groundhog is afraid of it's shadow. Take your time, divide it in many listens, I know it's a long record. Make the songs your background ambience for a while. After a little while, you will nod and maybe even press repeat.

Not the deepest lake in the county, but certainly a nice place to visit once in a while.

This is a pop prog. Until I repeat whole album for three times, I did not realize the excellence of the melodies, but now I can say this is one of the prog finest album. What makes it so: 1. Guitar is beautiful, not only tone but also melody. Song is pop like Weezer. 2. Can you imagine Floyd sounds with Mellotron ? That is nice. 3. This album has ROCK taste like YES. These days I am playing the whole album 3 or 4 times a day.

For me this is the best prog album in 2012 so far. 4.5 stars.

From the very first strands, it becomes obvious that this will be a vaporous and mystical journey into progland, as the lads waste no time to impress by presenting a real keeper "We Are What We Are", a bejeweled 9 minute opus of atmosphere and substance, the instrumental restraint is not only obvious, it adds even more drama to Yogi Lang's otherwise wistful vocals. The star of the show is a scintillating Moog synthesizer solo, straight out of the Manfred Mann school of pitch and bend and it is followed rapidly by a suppressed series of axe leads, including a lovely slide guitar passage. Oh my! New drummer Marc Turiaux also displays a muscular disposition in keeping things flowing and Lang has never sung better, relaxed yet passionate.

The title track has a warm, settling sun kind of feel to it, chock full of unbraided melancholy, a somewhat pastoral clinking and clanging of acoustic, electric and slide guitars and a massive chorus that floats quite miraculously amid the lyrical despondence of human blindness ("The world could have been a better place").

The über-sensational "Unchain the Earth" chooses to evolve rather organically from a fluttering bloom to a powerful yet uncomplicated melody, the bass rumbling with authority and a mind numbing anthem that hits the mark with the very first audition. This is a perfect prog song, mordant words within a glorious symphony of sound, totally enchanting. Little details abound , such a the slightly distorted vocal passage, some rifling rhythmic guitars and a soaring solo to finish this classic track off!

Appropriately, "The Ugliest Man in the World" does not apply to my ex-wife's current boyfriend (LOL) but concentrates on a rather more aggressive sandblast of riffs (Kalle's talent keeps growing with each release), a tornado of notes that congeal into a new sound , distancing itself from the previous Floydian scapes into a more Manfred Mann Earth Band style , as once again we are served up a flighty synth solo, followed by a Hammond organ blast and some amazing hard riffs, playing the light and shade game brilliantly. The stunning lyrical content aims at hypocrisy and deceit, harsh words gently sung, very thought out!

"The Road to Creation" keeps the mood chugging along, with an insistent buzzing bass ravaging the way, nasty chords slashing the horizon and synth burps for effect. The winks and nods at Porcupine Tree are more vindicated here with Turiaux smashing his kit vigorously. After the reflective and somber "Somewhere in Between" comes another rambunctious piece, "The Shadow" with its 'boom-boom-tchak' beat, and another one of those patented RPWL choruses, promising a future step into the light and adorned by a group of talkative guitar solos with hints of the legendary Phil Manzanera's penchant for texture and sound (aroma of native American tones, for example). "Wise in the Desert" is where they become even more oblique and creative, searching out new sound/sand scapes , whistling synth melodies amid the arid dunes, keeping things simple yet interesting, preparing the platform for the whopping 16 minute+ epic "The Fisherman", a willing distance away from anything approaching formulaic structures. The track is book-ended by an Oriental ?tinged opening and closing, while the Abyss sub- section is launched by a colossal wave of choir mellotron (oh yeah, baby!) that gooses the bumps deliciously that morphs into a polyrhythmic jungle of various complex sounds and swirls, providing depth and adventure (the raging organ solo is to expire over) and is then accentuated by a mammoth Kalle Wallner solo, screeching towards the kissing sun with utter abandon. The vocal part is a pure lullaby of glittering introspection, a crystalline projection of human thought and destiny. More mellotron and more guitar and more organ continue to astound and entice, flowing into a more comprehensive return to the "High as a Mountain" theme. This is as good as it gets, sonically and proves convincingly that RPWL have made the necessary compromises to be a progressive rock leader of the pack once again,"Eternal Moment of Return" indeed.

"Noon" is another of their trademark breezy exit songs, a delicately poignant expression of melancholy, self-analysis and contemplation. A sweet lilt and overtly gorgeous melody that ends not only a glorious return to form but perhaps even one of the finest albums of 2012, complete with lovely artwork and booklet.

Easily 5 failed gods

4.5 Stars

Fans of Echolyn, Pink Floyd, IQ, Camel, Big Big Train, Porcupine Tree (early catalogue), and Gabriel / Hackett era Genesis should enjoy this.