As far as I know the German multi-instrumentalist/composer Chris Engels released since 2019 albums under the moniker of Cen-ProjekT. In 2023 we reviewed his album Dark Clouds (see review). Last year this busy musician released three albums. Namely Arcane Sonic, The Story Of Enja and Dawnbreak. And now Carnival Of Lost Souls is released. His first studio album of 2025. Again Engels is assisted on this release by bassist Wolfgang Kropf. He already contributed to many of their albums. However drummer Marius Böffgen, who also occasionally helps out is not present behind his drum kit this time. This means that Chris has taken care of those parts himself next to doing all the vocal parts and playing on instruments such as keyboards and guitars. So a true multi-instrumentalist as I already told you. Every album usually has a certain concept. This release is no exception to this rule. On Carnival Of Lost Souls he describes characters that are working in a circus. Chris said the following about the album tracks: "Each piece brings to life a carnival character lost in time, telling dark stories of mystery, destiny and nostalgia. A journey through the echoes of the past, painted in black and white, both musically and visually." The soundtrack that comes along with this concept is one which will make many lovers of seventies progressive rock and neo-prog very happy. I will tell you why by describing each song separately. Elias Blackwood opens the album with sound effects representing the circus. The song is about a magician or illusionist. Music wise the song made me think about Pink Floyd, Pendragon, Big Big Train and early Genesis. Victor Malveil is next and is about a puppeteer. Here you can hear organ parts which bring you to the days when Pink Floyd and Genesis released excellent albums in the early seventies. However the great synth solo moves more towards the neo prog style. Isabella Thorn follows and is about the bearded woman. The song seems to go back to the days when Genesis released Nursery Cryme in1971. Big Big Train comes to the surface as well. This composition has a nice synthesizer solo and majestic Mellotron parts next to beautiful flute parts. Seraphina Moon is about a fortune teller. Music wise it has references with again Big Big Train and seventies Genesis. You can enjoy great synthesizer parts on this tune. Lilith Vale is about a contortionist woman. This piece of music could have been taken from the Genesis albums Trespass (1970) or Nursery Cryme. The song reminded me most of all of The Knife because of the organ and guitar parts. But also The Musical Box comes to mind. It also contains a fantastic synth solo and beautiful flute parts. Gregor Titan Volkov is about an imposing and astonishing character. Early Genesis of course comes to mind when you hear the beautiful Mellotron and flute parts next to the Peter Gabriel kind of singing. The organ and acoustic guitar parts once again brings you to the days of Trespass. It has again a great synth solo. Towards the end you can hear a kind of marching band. Dante Blaze is about a is a fire-eater and has musical references with early Genesis and BBT. Once again a great synthesizer solo is included. Evelyne Nocturne is about a phantom ballerina. BBT comes to mind and has excellent guitar and synthesizer parts next to bombastic Mellotron parts. Here you can also hear the sound of a musical box. Lucian Graves ends the album and is about the master of this carnival. It features great trumpet synthesizer sounds next to Genesis kind of organ and acoustic guitar parts. You can as well enjoy an impressive musical passage à la Carmina Burana from Carl Orff. A rather long synth solo is included as well and sometimes to music moves towards BBT. Only too bad about the abrupt ending of the song and the album. I guess it's all part of the concept! After the album is ended you simply want to put it on again. Because this is the kind of music I love very much. Bringing back the musical memories of the past when Genesis with Gabriel released such amazing albums. But also the neo prog of the eighties it present. Also a musical style I love very much. Not so strange of course, because those bands took their inspiration from the big names from the progressive rock bands in the seventies. But also a band such as Big Big Train I like a lot because of their influences taken from Genesis as well. And therefore I hear them many times on this album. Not that Engels might have been influenced by them. But just like this musician BBT is fishing from the same progressive rock pond. If you have the same musical interest as I mentioned above, Carnival Of Lost Souls is highly recommended. For me Chris Engels is the kind of musician who gives me so much musical pleasure with the albums he has released with Cen-ProjekT that I want to share it with everybody who wants to hear it. This kind of musician just deserves a much larger audience. Therefore I advise everybody to listen to his music on his Bandcamp page. This way he might become a bigger name in the progressive rock scene. For me personally Carnival Of Lost Souls belongs to the best albums released in 2025! ****+ Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
