Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Seven Steps To The Green Door
Label: Progrock Records
Release: 2008
Running time: 65:49
Rating: 3.5/5
Germany’s Seven Steps To The Green Door are a young progressive rock band who first turned heads with their debut “The Puzzle”. Even though “Step 2 My World” is only their second album, they’ve already collected plenty of praise in progressive and experimental music circles, mostly thanks to their originality. They’ve also been named among the first-prize winners at a prestigious German music festival, where they competed as an up-and-coming rock and pop act.
Seven Steps To The Green Door definitely don’t fit the type of prog rock band that dominates today, the kind that usually prefers to draw on either symphonic prog or progressive metal. Their sound dodges genre boxes, often blowing right past the borders between them. They throw together elements of different, even seemingly totally incompatible genres, like symphonic rock, art rock, metal, pop, jazz, electronica and even rap, in the wildest ways imaginable. Eclectic stunts like that take real guts, and these young guys and their female bandmate have no shortage of them. They take the idea of progressiveness very seriously, and instead of leaning on the nearly clichéd phrases from the rich legacy of symphonic prog or prog metal like most modern bands do, they’d rather push beyond the borders of individual genres. In doing so they show off great compositional chops, because a mosaic of such different genres could very easily turn into a complete mess.
On their latest release, too, the band heads off into wildly different musical extremes. In individual tracks they love to play with flowing polyrhythmic patterns, melodic vocal harmonies and crazy jazz phrases. Now and then a gentle, ballad-like section follows. In the very next moment, it can be cut off completely out of the blue by a metal assault with razor-sharp riffs and double bass pedal on the drums, or by a short, unobtrusive rap section laid over a soft melody. That’s exactly the most interesting part: how they manage to work rap vocals into a given track (rap being something plenty of prog purists wouldn’t even count as music) in a way that never grates, not even for a second. Despite all this experimenting, the compositions never once lose their central thread, and the genre variety makes sure you find something new even after countless listens.
Another point in favor of their originality is that they don’t hide a sarcastic sense of humor in their lyrics and certain arrangements, which is quite rare in modern progressive and experimental music. Their taste for clowning around and for personal and social satire is also obvious from the booklet. In it we see the band members photoshopped down into tiny gnomes and hiding in a botanical garden, where snails, insects and their pet ferret Lane, cast as a terrifying beast, lie in wait for them. Most of the lyrical content on the album revolves primarily around people retreating into their own “microworld”, where they look for a bit of spiritual peace away from a society gone mad. And as their name already suggests, the band is also driven by a strong environmental awareness.
The band’s main strength, in my view, is their knack for creating excellent vocal harmonies from all three singers. They’re just as convincing when they step out on their own, and their vocal abilities suit lots of different musical styles. Special praise goes to Anne Trautmann, who has an exceptionally warm and lyrically rich voice. It brings the lion’s share of subtle emotional intensity to their songs. And of course, you can’t overlook their excellent instrumental skills at all, especially when it comes to crafting juicy symphonic arrangements and the versatile use of rhythm guitars. They’re also convincing at combining modern production with classic sounds on piano, Hammond organ, Moog and Rhodes synth, all of which are just as indispensable for building an emotionally rich atmosphere. Despite the predominantly modern production, it often feels like the band has been beamed in from the 70s, when most music was still played with heart. It would be hard to single out individual tracks, since every one of them is high quality and a chapter of its own. In my view, the opener “New Rising”, the title track and “Out Of Clouds” deserve extra attention. All three are perfect examples of their musical style.
“Step 2 My World” is an album that will thrill music gourmets the most, the kind who still want to discover something new even after countless spins. By steering clear of clear-cut genre limits, Seven Steps To The Green Door prove they’re a band made of the right stuff, one that will need to be taken seriously in the coming years. In many ways they embody a positive direction for the future of progressive rock and experimental music in general. They’re also very important for the German prog rock scene, which has recently been short on bands daring to offer something fresh and step outside the usual neo-prog and prog metal frameworks. Seven Steps To The Green Door are a band with an exceptional ear, for older and more modern influences alike. And through it all, they never forget to pay tribute to the sonic tradition of the giants of experimental music.
Lineup
Marek Arnold – keyboards, saxophone, clarinet, electronic wind instrument, programming
Ulf Reinhardt – drums and percussion
Heiko Rehm – bass guitar
Andreas “Eddy†Gemeinhard – electric and acoustic guitar
Anne Trautmann – vocals
Ronny Gruber – vocals
Lars Köhler – vocals
Production
Marek Arnold and Ulf Reinhardt
Track list
1. New Rising
2. Stay Beside
3. Step Into My World
4. Melissa
5. My Lovely Mr. Singing Club
6. Attract Me
7. Paid for Glance
8. Moon Talks to Me
9. Rising Shore
10. Closer
11. Out of Clouds
12. The Making Of
