UNIDENTIFIED DYING OBJECTS

For a prog band from Germany, ARGOS sounds awfully British. Or wonderfully British...

This is one of my favorite bands of the modern prog era, consistently producing high-quality progressive albums full of emotion, great storytelling, a high level of musicianship all around, and inventive melodies. The CD package for "Unidentified Dying Objects" also contains great artwork, which is another consistent trait of their albums.

I think I still rate their previous album "A Seasonal Affair" just slightly better than this one. But if you can imagine VDGG playing songs with similitudes to Genesis, Gentle Giant and later-period Beatles(!) in an occasionally Canterbury-ish way, you'll get a bit of an idea of how this album sounds overall. The lead singer has a voice very similar to Peter Hammill, but avoids the strained vocals that Hammill occasionally visits. The drums are active and interesting without being overpowering; the keyboards are great, and the frequent use of organ lends itself to the VDGG comparisons again; you get plenty of meaty bass playing in the style that Chris Squire pioneered; some nice tastes of flute, sax and trumpet sprinkled in; but you can't (or I can't) have a truly great prog album without really fine guitar playing, and it is absolutely outstanding on this album.

This band does not have a bad album in their catalog. I daresay they've never recorded any bad songs. "Unidentified Dying Objects" is one more great addition to their oeuvre.

I'm going 4.5 stars on this one.

The last Argos album I experienced was Circles, a solid listen on which the band demonstrated a mastery of a diverse range of progressive sounds. On Unidentified Dying Objects, however, they have completed an evolution in a particular direction. On the one hand, it's a highly Genesis-imitating direction which we've heard before - but on the plus side they're really, really good at it, showing a knack for the particular theatrical style of Genesis which few imitators have been able to muster. Drawing on a wide range of subject matter, the band take us on a journey which finds Thomas Klarmann's contributions on vocals and flute and his synth playing (along with fellow keyboardist Thilo Brauss) to be especially important.

When I first typed in the album title I wrote 'Unidentified Frying Objects' by accident, but thought it didn't really look right which is a shame, as that additional element of humour would have fitted in really well with an album that in many ways is quintessentially English. The band was originally conceived as a solo project by Thomas Klarmann, whose passion for progressive music was reignited on discovering the new progressive movement in the 1990s spearheaded by acts such Spock's Beard and The Flower Kings. In partnership with vocalist and keyboards player Robert Gozon, Superdrama was formed, with drummer Ulf Jacobs offering his services after hearing the duo's work on Myspace. The new trio, now called Argos, signed to Musea in 2008, releasing their eponymous debut album the following years

Their second album 'Circles' (2010) added guitarist and producer Rico Florczak to expand their sound, followed by 'Cruel Symmetry' in 2012, and the highly-acclaimed 'A Seasonal Affair' (2015) featuring guest talents Andy Tillison and Marek Arnold. The band also began performing live, including making a much-lauded appearance at the Summer's End festival in 2014. Both Andy and Marek are back on this album as guests, along with Linus K'se (alto saxophone) and Johannes Steinbronn (trumpet). The guests bring in additional textures and styles into an album which in many ways is a quite unique blend of Canterbury scene influences and contemporary progressive rock. In some ways it is as of classic Caravan is mixing it up with 'Trespass'- era Genesis, but then bringing in Spock's Beard and IQ. Although I felt that their last album was somewhat disjointed and forced, this has a far easier flow to it, almost as if with their fifth studio album they have decided to relax into what they are doing, and the album is all the better for it. Modern, with a very retro twist indeed, this album is mixing together elements and styles from the prog scene decades apart, and shows just what can be achieved when it is done with care.

It wouldn't be enough for German band Argos, formed by multi-instrumentalist Thomas Klarmann almost fifteen years ago, to merely ape the classic Seventies Genesis formula that so many symphonic and Neo Prog acts do. Argos go those extra steps further by properly embracing the storytelling flair and rich characters present in the words of that legendary group, and they're also not afraid to get a little loopy! A truly schizophrenic approach is laced to so much of their fifth album, 2018's `Unidentified Dying Objects', and the group take a retro symphonic sound and firmly root it in a modern setting (with a large dose of Canterbury jazz and inspiration from Van der Graaf Generator), with a wide range of rich vocal-driven passages in perfect unison with colourful instrumental journeys.

Opener `The Hunters Last Stand' unveils plenty of drama and urgency throughout its evocative storytelling lyrics, delivered with charismatic effect by way of Robert Gozon's commanding Peter Hammill/Peter Gabriel-esque croon. The band apply no shortage of reprising Hammond organ purrs and crisp electric guitar themes throughout, and The Tangent's keyboard player extraordinaire Andy Tillison plys slathers on all sorts of synth colour in some extended up-tempo instrumental sprints in the latter half. The infectious `Parade of Unpainted Dreams' has a sprightly Caravan-like spring in its playful step, a cheerful Canterbury-esque breeziness to its sparkling electric piano and lightly chugging guitars, and `Beneath The Valley Of Sleep' adds darker jazz textures and uneasy slinking grooves to its dream-like words.

There's a gently unnerving kookiness to `The Days Of Perky Pat' that lyrically captures the same comical imagery with darker edges as something like Genesis' `Return of the Giant Hogweed', and `Shockheaded Peter' has a similarly clipping spring in its step to the title track of their `A Trick of the Tail' LP from '76 without being simple imitation `Still Fighting Gravity' is predominantly an instrumental (save for a brief surreal vocal passage in the final moments) of creaky Mellotron, tastily gnarling guitars and fancy flute, and some electric piano tinkling, lively sax and fuzzy organs call to mind the Soft Machine. `Elsewhere' is then an elegant yet insistent ballad that will greatly appeal to fans of crossover-symph band Big Big Train.

Most prog albums should have a lengthy epic, and the near-nineteen minute, eight-part `When The Tide Comes In' not only doesn't disappoint. It's a broad mix of doomed gothic sophistication, reflective piano breaks, wild guitar aggression of heavier churning bursts and tranquil jazz interludes, and a science-fiction-themed deadly serious narration throughout is hilariously comedic! But it's the equally whimsical and dirty sax soloing, and Robert's embracing of his Hammill-esque demented superior snarl that will greatly appeal to Van der Graaf Generator fans - and miraculously the piece holds together with a cohesion and consistent flow.

It's perhaps not as instantly accessible as a great many parts of their superb previous disc `A Seasonal Affair', but that more obvious and immediately melodic approach has been replaced by a hugely satisfying depth, a complexity to little details and a daring unpredictability, making the album truly a case of musical split-personality! Add in alluring vocals, diverse instrumentation from some supremely skilled musicians and ambitious arrangements, and everything together contributes to `Unidentified Dying Objects' being Argos' defining musical masterwork to date.

Four stars - and bonus points for Bernd Webler's stunning artwork.