Reviews

...The album opens with the title track: the pretty melody and piano leading into what becomes an intense and heavy-keyboard-layered composition. It's a good start. "Follow Me" is the first of the guitar-heavy numbers, its slightly syncopated thumping rhythm taking a few listens to sink in, but it works well in the playing order after that. "Isle of Me" and "Embedded" come closer to Sylvan's previous sound: the former is strong on melody and piano (another strong feature of Force of Gravity is the prominence in the soundscape keyboardist Volker Söhl's classical piano – it's a real treat!) and the latter has probably the most infectious hook of the album, skilfully delivered by Glühmann's vocal. "Turn of the Tide" leads into "From the Silence", the first of the tracks on which the invited string quartet makes its mark, adding to the lushness of the soundscape within a heavily layered arrangement. "From the Silence" is overshadowed by the brilliant "Midnight Sun", on which Glühmann duets with Miriam Schell. The song describes the atmosphere of a painting called "The Sea Ice" and its strings, piano and beautiful melody evoke perfectly the tranquillity and melancholy of the polar regions. It too is a contender for "song of the year"! "King of Porn" then contrasts markedly, benefitting as it does from some more of that mean electric guitar. The focus of "Episode 609" is back to melody before the album closes on the rocker "God of Rubbish" and "Vapour Trail". Force of Gravity is, in essence, a rock album from a band that has significant progressive leanings towards what has been called a "neo-prog" style. It features Sylvan's hallmark penchant for strong melody and adds a bit of steely guitar. It's a strong album that I'm sure will expand their fan base. Rightly so. Recommended!
www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=8184

...Okay, so far for (most of) the complaints, since I have to admit that repeated listening of the new album made me discover all of the little gems it's got hidden behind my initial layer of disappointment. Take for instance the magical piano ballad Midnight Sun (featuring slightly Kate Bush-like vocals by Miriam Schell), which might well be the most soothing, hypnotic and tranquil thing the band ever wrote. Isle In Me is another excellent ballad that appeals to me as much musically and lyrically as classics like Timeless Traces and The Colours Changed. Both songs make use of very imaginative drum production that sets the mood for the tracks. On the more rocking side we get a highly unexpected track like God Of Rubbish. Hated by many, this can only be described as 'Sylvan goes Green Day' and I consider it one of the highlights of the record (probably because I really like Green Day). The uptempo commercial punk rock approach developing from an acoustic intro is definitely something we haven't heard the band try before! Another heavy tune is the financial industry bashing Follow Me. I had much difficulty getting into this, but by now I have grown used to the short version that the band recently released with a horrendous video. The full length track features a really chaotic and atonal experimental middle section that really gets on my tits though ... It represents the 'unexpected ups and downs of the stock market'. Really smart, but it's as pleasant to listen to as looking at the current balance sheet of my own investments is...
www.dprp.net/reviews/200944.php

Eleven years into their career, Germany’s Sylvan have released a fine new album, Force of Gravity. Finally gaining some recognition in the United States, Sylvan have a sound that combines obvious elements and influences of Queensryche, Marillion, and Porcupine Tree with a touch of Dream Theater. The band crafts songs that have some heavy riffs, but mostly they’re big on melodic hooks and orchestration. The musicianship is top notch throughout: Marco Gluhmann (vocals), Jan Petersen (guitars), Sebastian Harnack (bass), Volker Sohl (keys), Matthias Harder (drums). None of the musicians steal the show from other band members — their sound is very well balanced, and all are excellent players, with some songs featuring beautiful piano and live orchestra while others focused on heavy guitars. If anyone deserves special accolades, though, it would be keyboardist Sohl, whose performance throughout the album stands out as particularly beautiful work. Vocalist Gluhmann has a unique voice that sounds beautiful throughout most of the album; the only questionable moment being his vocals on the title track (and album opener) that sometimes bordered on whining. Strong tracks include the wonderfully riffy “Follow Me,” which also features some excellent vocal delivery, and “Isle in Me” is classic, epic melodic rock stuff with emotional vocals and big orchestration...
www.musicplayers.com/reviews/CD_DVDs/2009/1109_ListeningTo.php

Force of Gravity is yet the seventh album of Sylvan in less than eleven years and they still are one of the most innovating prog rock bands from Germany. After the excellent concept album Posthumous Silence and the follow-up Presets the line-up of the band slightly changed. The new lead guitarist Jan Petersen replaced Kay Söhl, twin brother of keyboardist Volker Söhl. The influences of the new guitarist are evident. Some heavier tracks like Follow Me, King Porn and God Of Rubbish differ thoroughly from the symphonic songs of the first three albums. On the previous album Presets, I got the impression that Marco Glühmann was forcing his voice to reach the higher regions, but on Force Of Gravity he’s obviously more in control ..
www.backgroundmagazine.nl/CDreviews/SylvanGravity.html

One of the great progressive bands around today is back, this time with an incredible CD titled, Force of Gravity. From the opening refrains of the gorgeous title track, “Force of Gravity,” the talents of all the band members are evident as the piano, acoustic guitar and pitch perfect vocals of front man Marco Gluhmann come together into one sweeping, cascading music avalanche. Never at any one time does one instrument get in the way of another, and the angst coming from the voice of Gluhmann right away makes this one of this CD’s highlights. The music flows toward the listener with 5 minutes and 14 seconds of musical heaven. The staccato, almost choppy vocals of the hard rocking “Follow Me,” the sensational piano of the hauntingly beautiful “Turn of the Tide,” and “Midnight Sun,” the tongue-in-cheek wickedness that comes from “King Porn,” where during the chorus, the music soars, the mid tempo “Embedded,” are all sensational. Track 9, “Episode 609,” is one many listeners can relate to, and something that many of us have perhaps done, where we take the belief that the fictitious family seen on our favorite television program is indeed our own real family. Heard on “Episode 609 is “…Why isn’t life as easy as it’s meant to be? Why isn’t there a happy end, as seen on TV?…”
hardrockhaven.net/online/2010/sylvan-force-of-gravity

...German band Sylvan has been, for over a decade, a driving force in the most melodic, mild with hard touches, fringe of art-rock/neo-prog. They are mainly characterized by a mostly harmonious, sometimes a bit harsher on the guitars, musicality. One of their most personal traces is the vocal work, with its peculiar tone and emotional canvas that is perfectly capable of transporting the listener to the proposed mind status. Feelings flow freely in this bands musicality, which is something that I particularly like to listen in a band: the theatrical/emotional approach that is bound to transmit something to the listener. It is true that the band’s sound is sometimes repetitive, but I would not consider it monochromatic, as the band is always introducing pace changes that also reflect on the sonic aggressiveness. The band can be very assertive when it lays on more ballad-driven sounds, but as competent when they throw a more desperate/raging tone to their music. And the band basically works around these concepts and the possibilities of its mixture. I reckon that this will never be a band for the prog elitists that always strive to find experimentation and complex arrangements in their musical diet, yet Sylvan does not walk this path nor they really want to. It is simply not their “beach”. I honestly find this band tremendously competent in what they do and in the way they explore the framed and compact sound they created. They have a recognizable sound punctuated by a very unique vocal work, and that remains undisputable..
www.proggnosis.com/PGRelease.asp?RID=29183

...5. Does it have longevity? Is it something a fan will like to play again and again? Yes, it hasn’t left my player since I received it. It is very good and a welcome addition building on the strength of their last album. A fan wants to see one of their favorite bands stretch their creativity and talent and deliver a full 60 minutes or more of new music. This band has done that and more. These songs will definitely add to the wonderful catalog of music this band is creating. This album connects with its audience in so many ways. The lyrics and music on this album are both strong giving balance to their sound and proving they can deliver a powerful album in a language that may not be their native, since the band hails from Hamburg, Germany...
www.prognaut.com/reviews/sylvan3.html