The soundtrack for this morning’s work around the house was the latest release from Subsignal, a German Neo-Prog (there’s that sub-genre again) band Subsignal’s latest release Paraíso. Paraiso was released back in September of this year. I listened to the deluxe edition of the album which is two discs. The first disc is Paraiso and the second disc is a collection of various live performances of songs from previous albums, which was great for me, who knew nothing about the band.
After listening to this really great album I found out that Subsignal was originally a side project for Arno Menses (vocals) and Markus Steffen (guitars) in 2007 while they were members of Sieges Even. Their first collaborative effort was one song “A Wallflower of Saint Juliana” which was included on a Sieges Even album with the title changed to “Eyes Wide Open”
In the summer of 2008, Menses and Steffen split from Sieges Even and went looking for musicians who could help turn Subsignal into a fully functioning band. And the musicians that they recruited came from bands that I have actually heard of and enjoyed. bass player Ralf Schwager and keyboardist David Bertok came from another German prog band Dreamscape and from the Dutch band Sun Caged came drummer Roel van Helden.
The band’s current line-up is:
Markus Steffen (guitars, additional programming)
Arno Menses (vocals)
David Bertok (keyboards)
Ralf Schwager (bass)
Danilo Batdorf (drums
At their Facebook page I read that…
SUBSIGNAL define themselves as a progressive rock band, which is open to different styles and genres (e.g. AOR, Metal, etc.). They describe their music as melancholic, innovative, emotional and highly melodic. Arno and Markus aim to tie in with SUBSIGNAL to where Sieges Even stopped, with the difference of being more open musically and showing a stronger presence on stage.
In his review at ProgArchives Second Life Syndrome writes:
Overall, then, I think this is Subsignal’s best album. I feel their maturity is showing, as they focus more on complex melodies than on heavy riffs. I feel that they have come into their own with the harmonies, as Arno doesn’t hog them all to himself now, and every part of the song complements the whole. I feel that they have finally captured the essence of what they set out to do after Sieges Even, and they have the synth solos, the magnificent climaxes, and the excellent composition to prove it. Full Review
So here’s the official video from Paraíso….
