Canada, home of the three bands like; Max Webster, Klaatu, and Rush, have achieved cult status, but there is something that is coming out of the Great White North that deserves a lot of recognition and attention. That band is Druckfarben, a five piece band coming from the city of Toronto who’s influences ranges from; Yes, ELP, Genesis and sometimes a bit of the Pomp Rock band, Starcastle, they have got something up towards the highest mountains and screaming out for joy.
Their sole self-titled debut album released last year is one of the most must listen to albums in the Progressive Rock community and while they have a long road ahead of them, they carry the ‘70s influences on the badges and carrying the torches of Prog to the Olympic torch and lighting the flames for the older bands to give the up-and-coming bands the green light and see how they handle it the way they’ve done it and staying true to their roots.
With the thundering introduction of ELPO featuring Troy Feener’s militant turned explosive drum solo and Ed Bernard and William Hare’s swirling guitar and keyboard work, it makes sound like something out of the sessions for Yes’ Fragile as Influenza kicks the door down with Phil Naro’s vocals kicks in as his voice resembles the sounds of Jon Anderson and Terry Luttrell as the band head into town for some heavy duty time changing boundaries that is a perfect chemistry.
One of the most surprising numbers that just completely blew me away is the 6-minute epic, Dead Play Awake. It has this dramatic yet uplifting tempo as it goes into the guitar fret work in the realms of Fripp and a soaring finale that sends you into the outer limits as a grand piano comes in quietly while Peter Murray plays some mean bass lines as he and Ed go into dueling town to see who can win in the race. Yet for all of the mind-blowing proportions, it is a centerpiece from the debut like no other.
It’s hard to believe, but this 5-piece really have done their homework assignment and got an A and received an award for best breakthrough band in the college circuit. As the last 5 tracks of the album makes it sound like it’s from 1978 to 1980 all over again, it has finally come to realization that Druckfarben are not a retro band, but a band that know their prog influences and show no sign of stopping.
The touches of Walk Away has more of the FM Radio sound quality that reminded me of the Snakes and Arrows-era of Rush while the acoustic crisp ballad of Seems So Real has a beautiful melodic structures as the lyrics deal with how hard your life is and falling down and not coming out, that what you have expected to come out of the blue is real and not fake. Nat Nayah has a catchy dance beat about survival as Sons of Anakim resembles Gentle Giant and Frank Zappa as if they had jammed together in the same room with a funky and hard rock sound as if they had teamed up with the maestro to go on the road.
The 7-minute closer, Nonchalant, sees them taking a break from the Prog and Pomp Rock sounds and going into a Middle-Eastern Folk featuring a mandolin and a fiddle to give it a warm bright sunset as Ed Bernhard takes control on three of the instruments to lend Phil a helping hand as a friend to see where he will go next. I have listened to Druckfarben’s debut album about seven times already and I’m quite impressed from what I’m hearing from this 5-piece band. Let’s see what they might have in store for us when they work on the second album.
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