PERSONAL EFFECTS - PART ONE

They call it Cinematic Prog ...

FREQUENCY DRIFT's debut album is inspired by movies like 'Blade Runner', 'Lost' and 'Ghost in the Shell' telling the story about River and Romance, two girls living in 2046 where conditions have developed from bad to worse. They are struggling against an imaginary association named 'Diomedeidae' and the song titles are containing time stamps from a one night period giving the time scale for the first part of the story. Lyrics are in English and the band didn't include them into the booklet deliberately to enforce a special concentration on the visual component. They worked together with a graphic designer for that and the CD booklet is full of black-and-white pictures representing a dark atmospheric mood depending on the story. The band members are restraining themselves - no band photo is given and nothing more is to experience about them which provides a mysterious attitude a little bit.

Relying on Katja Hübner's impressive voice (sometimes near to MAGENTA's Christina by the way) the nine songs with a total length of more than 60 minutes are turned out dreamy melancholic in the whole - cinematic as the band undertakes. The instrumental parts are blending some tricky effects with symphonic and heavier rocking elements pushed by a varied keyboard/guitar work and a solid rhythm section. It's more rare that the band is rocking the boat but guitar player Sebastian Koch has enough chances to show his solo talents whereby he sometimes gets near to a significant Gilmour style.

Some interesting samples and synth effects are integrated which confirms the term 'cinematic'. The second song Ghost Memory for example is underlaid with an alienated futuristic choir piece which gives the song a special seductive charme - excellent idea with a distinctive design. Fall is dominated by a memorable refrain and Romance convinces as an eclectic art rock highlight - an example of innovative songwriting. The title track Personal Effects is a nice piano solo excursion taken over by the comparatively heavy Anger initiated by a forceful drum intro.

FREQUENCY DRIFT has worked out a quite unique profile with this debut which is expandable anyhow - comparable with bands like Sylvan, Poor Genetic Material and Magenta for a clue in a wider sense. And the appendix 'part one' implies: a follower is already announced - hopefully provided with a more optimistic story - 3.5 stars really ...

A highly intriguing debut album by German act Frequency Drift.

For starters, this is a science fiction-themed concept album; so fans of those can hit the net and order right away. For those more concerned with musical contents; we're served a mostly mellow and melancholic creation on this production; where carefully crafted keyboard textures in the form of piano and what sounds very much like a harpsichord are central elements. Acoustic guitar licks and melodic bass lines flesh out the songs; and drawn out subdued guitar riffs are utilized alongside floating and often majestic synth layers to add punch and dramatics to the tunes; as well as atmospheric guitar soloing from the Neo progressive school and keyboard soloing.

The main asset on this release are the vocals though, Katja Hübner has a powerful, rich voice and a fine emotional delivery; and mixed with well crafted instrumental performance and skilled mix and production this result in strong moods; enhanced by some clever complex instrumental explorations and a few unexpected twists in the songwriting department.

A release that should be very much of interest to fans of Neo Progressive rock as well as those who like their progressive rock a bit on the soft and atmospheric side in general.

There's just something about Frequency Drift. Maybe it's because they are influenced by Blade Runner (one of my favorites), or maybe it's just so melancholy (like me); but there is something about this band that makes my ears tingle and my mind drift with the music.

I'm a huge fan of both "Ghosts" and "Laid to Rest", the band's newest two releases. I finally got a chance to hear their debut now, and I was so impressed with how mature they sounded from the very start! The ethereal female vocals are there, though a bit less dreamy than their newer stuff. The fantastic synth work is very apparent on this album, maybe more so than the newer albums because "Personal Effects" doesn't feature any violin like on "Ghosts" and "Laid to Rest", so the synth is more dominant. I was even highly impressed with the drumming style here. I think Wolfgang Ostermann may be one of my favorite drummers for his very appropriate style that can be light one second, and then heavy and fast the next. No matter what, though, the drumming is always on the move: There is never a moment when Wolfgang decides it's okay to get a little lazy or stay in the same beat or signature for a while.

I think that's what I like so much about this album and this band: They are never satisfied to fall into a rut of sorts. The songs are constantly changing, progressing, and getting more and more cinematic. They know how to set mood both visually and audibly, and they can tell a story very well, too. Anything this group releases will be at the top of my anticipatory list. Now, I just need to spend some time with "Personal Effects, Part 2".