Cydonia – Second Sight

As the album title indicates, the German band Cydonia is ready for their second album. The first album Stations already showed that we could welcome a band with a lot of potential, although I did have a mixed feeling about that. That's because they tapped from two barrels, clear prog but also pure hard rock in the style of Deep Purple, for example. We also have to take away a prejudice about German bands, Michael Bernauer has no clearly audible accent and is a fine vocalist. The band also consists of Rainer Dück on guitar, Daniel Perrey on keyboards, Dirk Fenchel on drums and Oliver Gerike on bass, acoustic guitar and bass pedals. A classic rock line-up, with some small additions, I'll come back to that.

Second Sight contains eight tracks that vary from four to over thirteen minutes. For me, the big question was, did the men make a choice in terms of the musical direction? I dare to answer yes to that and that is positive for me and the readers of this review. They have chosen prog as the main menu with a few small amuses that point to a bit more mainstream.

I am not a listener who is easily distracted by lyrics from music if it is good, but I do like thoughtful lyrics with some depth. Let's say that Cydonia combines very understandable and sometimes even somewhat simple lyrics with often wonderful music. Opener Heart of Stone is musically a cross between prog and AOR, as Styx makes for example. The refrain has got a very high sing-along quality. It is immediately clear that we hear a mature and well-playing band with a high level of playing. They are not afraid of many solos on keys and guitar and these are very nice to listen to. Clouds of Tears is actually a continuation of the aforementioned style, nice track without too much fuss.

Then comes the first highlight of the album, Father is over thirteen minutes long and is a truly beautiful track, pure prog rock with a range of beautiful melodies and an audible influence of compatriots Eloy, especially in the wonderfully floating keyboard work of Perrey who also plays a long solo. This very personal track in terms of lyrics also offers a lot of room for Dück to let his guitar shine. The varied playing of bassist Gericke is also striking, it indeed reminds me of Klaus-Peter Matziol from Eloy. For me, this is Cydonia at its best.

The shorter Home is a bit simpler in design and starts with a beautiful subdued piece on piano before the guitar takes over and the tempo increases. The refrain is very catchy and invites listeners to sing along. Huge Black Hole goes more towards the style of the first two songs, well played, a bit spicier.

The last three tracks provide a more than worthy finale. Sorrow's Lullaby is a proggy version of an old children's rhyme, with a slightly modified text that gives a very different meaning. Acoustic guitars provide a nice build-up to a somewhat heavier end but with plenty of room for instrumental delights that are always based on melody, because make no mistake about Dück because he is an excellent guitarist with a great sense of melodic solos.

If Father was a highlight, Guardian Angel is perhaps even more so. Eloy meets Pink Floyd but with a clear Cydonia signature. This midtempo track has such beautiful transitions and contains a spoken piece of text in which a child's voice (Yiva Roya Gutmann) asks the most logical questions about the Guardian Angels phenomenon as only children can. The cosmic sounds create an atmosphere that makes Dück's guitar work stand out so beautifully and when the rhythm goes up a bit, Bernauer sings at his best. The almost twelve minutes slip by and the harmony vocals are very beautiful and accompany the song to an acoustic guitar solo that slowly turns into an electric one and that is again wonderful.

It doesn't end there because we still have closing track Enjoy Yourselves. The advice we get is meant to, well, that should be clear. And entertaining us is not that difficult with this fascinating album because Cydonia has improved by leaps and bounds compared to Stations. Some nice parts on strings close the whole in style.

And here we go again, the artwork is just beautiful again and was undoubtedly made with the help of AI but visibly completes the title of the album. Although not all songs resonate with me alike, I think Second Sight is a very good album, one that makes you long for the next one.

Music 80

Cover 85