ARTIFICIAL PARADISE

Sylvan

Neo-Prog

3.84 | 219 ratings

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Menswear
Prog Reviewer

Hey dudes, hold on, I think I found one.

Aren't you tired of flat 80's guitars, Fish pastiche vocals and Fantasy Casio keyboards? Well, that's pretty much what N�o-Prog has to offer for over 2 decades. I am sick and tired of the Marillion clone and I need fresh, new rookies to prove me wrong.

Few bands are trying to sound fresh, but since year 2000, N�o-Prog tends to harden his sound and more bands are crossing the line towards the real commercial sound. As a very careful circus artist walking on a thin steel rope, Sylvan is taking advantage of the best of the 2 worlds: intelligent songwriting iced with a modern and 'youngful' approach. Art rock in this case could be more appropriate to describe them.

I can't figure how Sylvan wouldn't charm your ears, or at least grasp your attention. Their songs are intentionnally created to please and entertain. This is a band that exploits drum programming, crunchy guitars, poppy bass lines and refreshing vocals. Indeed, the vocals are not fancy or superimposed to create a wall of voices (like Arena did in Contagion), this is just a guy singing his heart out. And fans of P.O.D. or Our Lady Peace will recognize some similarities with their favorites singers; Gluhmann has a charming post-teenage voice that rocks all the way, without falling into clich�s of N�o-Prog.

Sylvan is obviously not following the N�o pattern, as Carptree did not also last year. The ballads are not cheesy (thank you lord) and some heavier stuff could make your eyebrow rise a couple of times. The band is clearly now one of the newcomers I've gotta check more out and their FM approach is a great recipe, mixing smart-ass structures to create accessible stuff that grabs you almost immediately. A very good bet, with lots of replay value.

High 5 man.

Menswear | 4/5 | 2006-5-10

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