ROCKPOMMEL'S LAND

Rockpommel's Land is probably the album which, above all their other work, justifies Grobschnitt's presence in the Symphonic prog section. Turning their backs almost entirely on the space rock (and lapses into contrived comedy) that was a feature of their previous albums, Grobschnitt plunge into a style influenced by Yes and Genesis and tell the magical tale of a special bird that takes a small child to a mysterious fantasy land.

Whilst the music retains enough of Grobschnitt's personality to save the album from being a cloning exercise, at the same time it seems rather uninspired - the album seems designed in a calculating way to check all the boxes on the symphonic prog checklist, right down to the cover art, and consequently comes across as pandering to mainstream prog fans as opposed to being a genuine and honest expression of the band's desired creative direction - and the fact that they would never again make an album in this style only goes to prove the point. Three stars.