SISYPHOS

What? Only one review so far? For such interesting and strong CD? It is strange. Anyway, I was also delighted by the high quality of the compositions. And I could hardly believe that this complex and well perfomed work was writen and performed by one man only: incredible Arne Schäfer not only plays everything here (keyboards, guitars, bass and drums) but also sings with quite conviction and technique (and, surprise!, without a noticeable accent). The music inside is a mix of what seems to be two of Schäfer´s strongest inlfuences, Van Der Graaf Generator and Gabriel era Genesis (plus some early King Crimson parts too). So the music is paradoxially very interesting: dark and gloomy on one side and melodic and colorful on the other.

There are only five tracks, and the three epics are definitly the best ones. This is a keyboard driven outfit, although the guitar parts (all played by Schäfer as I stated before) are very good and original. I´d think it was really a five member group instead of a one man band. Lots of analogic sounding keyboards (Hammond organ and mellotron) The arrangements are tasteful, the perfomance is outstanding and the lyrics are quite good too. All helped by the crystal clear production. The songwriting is superb: the guy knows how to produce something new out of the old. Very 70´s sounding, of course, and still very modern too. If you want to check a highlight try the third track, the 19+ minutes Cruel Joke. One hell of a great prog song!

Conclusion: a very nice surprise by this german genius. I´m looking forward to hear more of Apogee´s discography. Fans of 70´s symphonic prog (with dark overtones), don´t miss this one! Rating: 4 strong stars. Definitly recommended.