Frequency Drift - Ghosts ... - 2011
“... emotions that echo from former times ...”
intro
Frequency Drift is a cinematic progressive rock band from Germany. “Ghosts” is after “Personal Effects Part One” (Musea Records) and “Personal Effects Part Two” (Cyclops Records) their third album which is now released on Progrock Records. They use a cinematic approach in their compositions. The theme of this album is about things that haunt us, things that cannot fully be grasped, things we carry with us, emotions that echo from former times.
line-up
Antje Auer - vocals; Christian Hack - guitar, flute; Sebastian Koch - guitar; Jürgen Rennecke - bass, stick; Andreas Hack - keyboards; martin Fox - drums
Guests:
Wolfgang Ostermann - drums (on “Dance no more” and “Tempest”); Frank Schmitz - violin; Rainer Hartmann - guitar; Nerissa Schwarz - electroharp
review
The album opens (after the crow samples) with a delicate cinematic melody on piano, guitar and electroharp in the short intro “Crows”. The first and longest track of the album is entitled “Dreams” (11:55). The doubled voice of Antje gives a special effect. The tension of the music slowly builds up. And after a slow and delicate vocal part, the violin is introduced into the music of Frequency Drift. Also there is a small part with some Pink Floyd influences (keyboard sound of “Wish you were here”). Then the tension of the music builds up again with an aggressive guitar part and flute solo. After the next rhythm change there is more room for the violin. It gives the song also a jazzy touch. Then the bands continues with “Sadness” a shorter track. This up tempo track has an aggressive edge (the guitars) which is combined with beautiful and melodic keyboard strings. The next long track is called “Tempest” and opens with an atmospheric synth and piano intro. In the first part of this track you hear the cinematic approach of the band. To be honest, I like the voice of Antje Auer more in those slow atmospheric parts. It is a diverse track with atmospheric parts, aggressive guitar and even some jazzy guitar work. The short “Ringshine” is a beautiful guitar and electroharp melody. In “Dance no more” you can hear after an atmospheric opening, nice keyboard and guitar parts. The aggressive guitar parts gives the track a heavy metal bite. The combination of those heavy parts and the more atmospheric parts with a cinematic character gives a nice contrast. In the end you can enjoy a beautiful melodic guitar solo. And please listen to the great drum work of Wolfgang Ostermann on this track. “Mermaid” opens with a delicate vocal part accompanied with spacious violin, electroharp and atmospheric keys. Then Frank Schmitz plays a great electric violin solo, which reminds me of the work of Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra), that is followed by a heavy guitar part before the delicate vocals return in combination with a slow melodic violin part (beautiful melody). “Mermaid” is one of the highlights of this good album. In the last track, entitled “Come”, you can hear a slow very beautiful violin melody. In the second part of this track the music gets more heavy with again great electric violin and keyboard parts. I think the second part of this CD is very strong.
conclusion
“Ghosts” the third album of the German band Frequency Drift is a good album. I can't compare this album to the previous two albums because they are not in my possession. On “Ghosts” the band combines cinematic parts with heavy and aggressive guitar parts. I like the contrast of those two in a single composition. Beautiful delicate vocal parts and that great electric violin. It gives the music something special and I think the violin fits great into a progressive musical setting. Frequency Drift made a good album!