FORCE MAJEURE

SONIQ THEATER is the moniker chosen by German keyboardist and composer Alfred Mueller for his solo efforts. Following the break-up of his former band Rachel's Birthday in the late 90's, he's been steadily issuing new albums, of which "Force Majeure" from 2011 is his most recent.

German one-man band Soniq Theater continues producing high-quality material conveyed in a manner that ultimately will be an acquired taste. Keyboards and synths are the main, if not sole, providers of all instrumental duties, with the strengths, weaknesses and limitations that follow with that approach. His compositions are of high quality however, and if you tend to enjoy symphonic art rock with distinct cinematic features you might just want to give his productions a few minutes of your time. Chances are that you'll find it to be a pleasant experience, and for the right people the experience will prove to be much more rewarding than so as well.

This is one of Alfred Mueller's more recent releases, coming out in 2011. As with all of his other releases this is a 100% solo effort with Alfred providing multiple layers of keyboards as well as some samples. Actually there is a higher concentration on 'pure' keyboard sounds on this album than on some others and it definitely benefits from it (although I do wish he would find a live drummer as well). This album combines the styles of a reflective Rick Wakeman with Jean Michel Jarre, while at others it is more direct and more in the vein of Keith Emerson. While Alfred doesn't finesse in the way that these players do, the result is yet again a very solid piece of work.

Although the style is fairly restrictive, once again he has produced an album that is easy to listen to and has enough complexity and depth of sound to maintain interest through to the end. If you have to discover Soniq Theater then this is a fine place to start. www.soniqtheater.de