"The Promise" is indeed a very promising debut by this band founded in 2004 in Wiesbaden, Hessen Germany by Robert Gozon and Robert Stein-Holzheim. Originally calling themselves Noble Effort, and after a few re-shuffles in their first year the basic line-up was eventually found and they changed their name to Superdrama.
With vocals in English, this quintet take their cue from the 70's British progressive scene. You will be instantly reminded of Van der Graaf Generator from the opening vocals of Robert Gozon who has an uncanny resemblance to Peter Hammill at times. Musically I would have to say that Gabriel era Genesis is their main influence especially in the vintage keyboard sounds (also supplied by Gozon) that would make any Tony Banks fan take notice.
Gozon along with bassist/flautist Thomas Klarmann also play in the band Argos who are a good point of reference for Superdrama's sound who also site Yes, King Crimson, Marillion and IQ as influences.
Finishing off the lineup is Robert Stein-Holzheim on drums, who was also the drummer for 80's prog band Scaramouche, Michael Hahn on guitars and Thilo Brauss on organ and additional keyboards.
The vintage keyboards, organ and flute are all here to recreate the 70's sound but with a more modern approach.
"The Promise" is one of the more interesting debuts that has come out of Germany in recent years in this reviewers opinion and comes highly recommended to fans of good old British style symphonic prog.
The CD comes housed in a hardcover mediabook with a 60 page booklet that is mostly in German.
Reviewed by John Longo on June 15th, 2014
