Celebrating thirty years of being a band is quite an effort that many bands are unable to follow. German instrumental power trio Trigon celebrates with their first release since the 2011 (see review) album. The appropriate tittle 30 Jahre Traumzeit - Thirty Years Dreamtime indicates the pleasant way of working together all those years. Trigon consists of guitarist Rainer Lange and his brother Stefan Lange, who plays bass. Drummer is Tihomir Lozanovski, who replaced Rudi Metzler since the previous release. Looking back to that particular previous album, I remember granting it the highest score, just because of the great compositions; blending fusion with progressive rock to an intriguing, very interesting form of music. When I started to listen to 30 Jahre Traumzeit, it kind of felt like I was listening to completely different band. Perhaps my expectations were way to high; I hadn't heard new stuff since seven years. Or, perhaps my interpretation of the 2011 album was too much focussed on the progressive fusion style. Nevertheless, with their 2018 release, the music has taken a turn towards jam band with psychedelic parts woven into it. When you start listening, the opener Zündfunke, still shows some fusion and progressive rock elements, But as we continue the seemingly improvised jam parts are starting to show the same patterns and start to look alike. Don't get me wrong, musically Trigon still excel as individual musicians. Rainer is a wonderful player and his brother and drummer Tihomir are a very capable rhythm section. But to me, it seems there could have been more, Trigon focusses on groove over technics and the aforementioned rhythm section is there to support the guitar, rarely taking the lead in the music. Trigon seems to celebrate the guitar more that the collective and I guess this album could have been a Rainer Lange solo album. I love the guitar in all its aspects, but I can also appreciate some diversity in music. That is what I miss, listening to the album. 30 Jahre Traumzeit just keeps on going, same pace, different jam, or was it just one big jam that lasts over seventy minutes. If you are into jam bands who dedicate their music to the guitar, you will enjoy this album very much. After 2011 I was hoping for the next step, for me this is two steps back. Sorry guys. *** Pedro Bekkers (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
