Soniq Theater: Unknown Realities

Unknown Realities is the tenth album from keyboard/synth maestro Alfred Mueller under the guise Soniq Theater and for any serious lover of keyboard based progressively themed music, there is much of interest here. Unsurprisingly considering the one man nature of Soniq Theater, reference points for the music range from Vangelis, to Jarre and from Oldfield to Schulze, and also not too surprising is the lack of vocals across the entire disc.

The eleven tracks on the album have a scope that creates many interesting themes and ideas and when, as they do on a few occasions, they really come to fruition, the effect is quite spellbinding. Opening an album with one of the stand out tracks is something every artist should aim for and in the shape of "Longing For Freedom", Unknown Realities does just that. The melody line soars over a busy, yet memorable backdrop, making for an extremely uplifting theme that the song revisits throughout its near six minute length. A more gentle synth passage gives the impression of a pacey Vangelis number being played by Jan Hammer and it is that modern vibe crossed with 80's sounds that crops up throughout the album. In places it is a strong point of the music and in places can make the songs suffer slightly. The momentum of the excellent opener is maintained by the more overtly Vangelis feel of "Revealing A Dream", which could easily have come from the Greek's Albedo 0.39 album with its metallic clanging and atmospheric build.

Unfortunately the issue I have with many purely keyboard oriented albums rears its head on the next two tracks and that is the actual keyboard sound itself. "Revolution Hymn" is clunky and cumbersome in construction with the parping effects feeling more like music that would be used to add "tension" to a kid's TV show instead of the foreboding threat aimed for. The song is well played, however I just can't get away from the feeling that it's the sort of thing that Asia would throw out for being a bit cheesy. The weakly jazzy strains of "Cosmic Angel" fails to raise the standard either, with the gentle stroll through floaty, dreamy sounds trickling by without making any lasting impression whatsoever. The neo-prog fanfares and riffing keyboards improve things greatly on "Black Mustang" before another listless slower effort, "Pavillon", once more removes the momentum that had been introduced.

With that, you really have Unknown Realities summed up, when it is good, it is excellent, however too often the sounds chosen hinder some well written songs that deserve more grace in execution to raise them above "incidental". For example the bass heavy "The Nitty Gritty" really could have segued scenes in Seinfeld. That said the stronger moments do more than make up for the discs shortcomings, with the likes of the pompous bell ringing "Organic Food" or the quirky warble of "Roll the Dice" both being engaging and uplifting.

There is much to enjoy on Soniq Theater's tenth offering and if unlike me you can see past the poor choice of effects and sounds employed at times then you may be really taken by it. For the rest of us the standouts do just that and the others are purely skippable.

Track Listing
1. Longing for Freedom
2. Revealing a Dream
3. Revolution Hymn
4. Cosmic Angel
5. Black Mustang
6. Pavillon
7. The Nitty Gritty
8. Call of the Unknown
9. Roll the Dice
10. Organic Food
11. Slipping into the Future

Added: May 30th 2010
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Soniq Theater Official Website
Hits: 2216
Language: english

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