Album review: RPWL – Crime Scene
Gentle Art Of Music [Release date: 17.03.23]
It is now more than twenty years since RPWL’s debut album ‘God Has Failed’ was released to an unknowing world – to a muted response.
But, muted response or not, it laid down the template for what has proved to be a stellar career in the art rock / progressive rock genre as RPWL have, alongside the likes of Kaipa, Sylvan and, particularly, Riverside, been the focal point of the European renaissance in great progressive rock.
This stellar career has produced a treasury of exceptional albums such as ‘World Through My Eyes’, ‘Beyond Man And Time’, ‘Wanted’ and ‘Tales From Outer Space’, often followed up by superb live recordings of the albums on tour.
And so we arrive at album #19 ‘Crime Scene’ which follows the pattern of including important societal themes and pertinent subject matter set against music and, indeed, musicianship of the highest calibre.
RPWL have always been in the vanguard of tackling contentious issues – be that organised religion, the mis-use of science, humanity (or the lack of it) and even space travel – and ‘Crime Scene’ continues this thread, focusing on the links between crime, psychology and punishment.
It’s a concept that has the potential to be excessively morbid but is handled with much dexterity and empathy – in classic RPWL fashion.
From the opening bars of lead-off track ‘Victim Of Desire’ where Kalle Wallner’s in-your-face guitar segués into chiming, chorus pedal arpeggios framing the lyrics retelling domestic abuse – through to the closing ‘Another Life Beyond Control’s almost-back-to-the-seventies heyday of prog, the quality never lets up for a second.
‘Red Rose’ has a wonderful acoustic opening and great bass-work from Martin Grützner, as has ‘A Cold Spring Day In ’22’ and ‘Life In A Cage’ tackles the thorny subject of a sociopath in prison.
The highlight, however, in an album chock full of high points, has to be the near thirteen minutes of ‘King Of The World’ whose classic prog tropes of light, dark and everything in between and intertwining of guitar and Yogi Lang’s keyboards topped off with Wallner’s controlled soloing conspiring to produce a thing of beauty.
And a thing of beauty is what ‘Crime Scene’ is.
Despite its difficult and somewhat controversial topics, one is left with the overall feeling that justice has been done – and that RPWL, with their extraordinary musicianship and laser-like insightful lyrics, have produced yet another masterpiece.
They’re racking up. *****
Review by Alan Jones
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024
ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)
Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)
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