The name of this Swiss band, Flame Drop, put me on the wrong track at first. That's because there is also a band called Flame Dream that also hails from Switzerland. That is a lot of coincidence, but as you see, it exists. In this case we are talking about a two-man project led by Roland Hegi and Felix Waldispuehl. They make on their second album Beyond Cosmic Infinity instrumental music that we can label as prog most certainly. The lack of vocals is often quite an obstacle for me in appreciating music, but I go into it with an open mindset and we will see where this leads. The album contains seven tracks and there are some very long ones. Both men play several instruments but it is Hegi who takes care of the guitars. The wide range of keyboards is provided by both and where real drums can be heard, Waldispuehl does that. The title of the album Beyond Cosmic Infinity suggests that we are going to hear a lot of "cosmic" music and that is indeed true, many floating keys that aptly describe the image of our cosmos. What is immediately clear, these men play excellently because the solos on keys and guitar are very pleasant and technically of a high level. Hegi's style is sometimes a bit Alan Holdsworth-like, as in The Cosmic Silence but then again nice and proggy like in the almost sixteen minutes long Astral Projection. The latter is the most beautiful song on the album for me because it contains just about everything Flame Drop has to offer and the guitar is really crying and howling at times. The big question with instrumental music for me is always, does it continue to fascinate? For that, there must be quite a lot of variety to be heard to maintain the tension curve. In this case it works reasonably well and that is mainly because Hegi very regularly offers his guitar for the leading role. Occasionally he sounds like David Gilmour and that creates a Pink Floyd-like atmosphere like in closing track The Great Beyond. The sound fragments that can occasionally be heard on the album also ensure that you stay on your toes, or at least startle you again. The latter is sometimes necessary because it is all quite dreamy so that the attention sometimes slackens a bit. Still, a track like Wonderland starts quite rocky and that's nice to hear and the tempo actually stays up nicely. Also in terms of rhythm, this is a fairly busy song with a lot of percussion. Ascending is one of the shorter tracks but contains a very nice melody that is repeated quite often and this is also the case in Legacy Of Dreams which starts with some tasteful piano before the guitar takes over. We hear some astronauts speaking which certainly adds to the cosmic feeling. No track is out of bounce and except for some wordless vocals in closing track The Great Beyond, a lady forces quite a bit here, there are few turn-offs to be found. The approach of the aforementioned closing track is probably to create a Great Gig In The Sky atmosphere like Pink Floyd, but then it really needs to be "sung" better. In the end I would say, many compliments to both musicians because I think Beyond Cosmic Infinity is one of the better instrumental albums I know. Do I miss the vocals? Sure, but I have that with almost all instrumental albums so that's more my fault and not that of the music on this album. If you want to dream away in an imaginary cosmos then this album is a great accompaniment. And just when you are about to lose yourself in this state of mind you are woken up by a lovely wailing guitar. *** Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
