Sylvan (band): Difference between revisions

Sylvan
Sylvan
Origin	Hamburg, Germany
Genres	Progressive rock, symphonic rock
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Sylvan Music
Members	Volker Söhl; Matthias Harder; Marco Glühmann; Sebastian Harnack;
Past members	Kay Söhl; Marko Heisig; Matthias Koops; Jan Petersen;
Website	www.sylvan.de

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Sylvan is a German progressive rock band.

History

Kay Söhl and keyboardists Volker Söhl and Matthias Harder founded the band Temporal Temptation in 1990. That summer, the eventual founders of Sylvan first played live — mostly hard rock sung in German, with only a little progressive rock.

In Autumn 1990, the band changed its name to Chameleon as a symbol of changeability. The album artwork resembled early Marillion covers and it was never issued. In Summer 1991, Marko Heisig joined Chameleon as the lead singer and bassist. Between 1992 and 1994, their music turned gloomy and aggressive. In 1992, the first official demo tape of Chameleon was released. With Matthias Koops as lead singer, the second official demo tape was recorded. The title was Slaves and its track list was Time, Slaves, Mirror of a Lifetime, and Childhood Dreams.

In 1995, guest musician Marco Glühmann joined the band, and a third and final demo tape was recorded. The track list was Beren and Luthien, Golden Cage, and Outro. All of these songs later appeared on the Deliverance album in some way.

In 1997 the last live concert took place under the name Chameleon. The band then changed its name to Sylvan. Deliverance was recorded in 1998 and a second CD, Encounters, was released in 2000.

Sylvan had utilized several bassists, but, in Spring 2000, Sebastian Harnack filled the role permanently. After releasing Encounters, the band toured in Germany and at several festivals in Europe and even in Mexico. Another highlight was the performance of Encounters / Das Rockballet together with the "New Dance Project". In October 2002, Sylvan released a third album, Artificial Paradise.

Sylvan's fourth album, X-Rayed, sounds rougher and darker, another concept album, with each song telling a story of people coping with an emotional situation. The 2004 tour throughout Germany and Europe featured an appearance at the Rites of Spring Festival in Pennsylvania, USA, and the support of Marillion in Cologne.

Sylvan then produced two albums, both released in April 2006. Posthumous Silence tells of a father who reads the diary of his apparently dead daughter and learns of her desperation. Presets had shorter and catchier songs with the intention to make Sylvan's music known to a wider range of rock fans.

Shortly after finishing this work, founder and guitarist Kay Söhl left the band. He was replaced at the end of 2007 by Jan Petersen, who had been a guest guitarist during the Posthumous Silence live show.

Band members

Current members

Volker Söhl - keyboards (1990–present)
Matthias Harder - drums (1990–present)
Marco Glühmann - vocals (1995–present)
Sebastian Harnack - bass (2000–present)

Former members

Kay Söhl - guitar (1990–2007)
Marko Heisig - vocals (1991)
Matthias Koops - vocals (1992)
Jan Petersen - guitar (2007–2013)

Discography

Albums

Deliverance (1999)
Encounters (2000)
Artificial Paradise (2002)
X-Rayed (2004)
Posthumous Silence (2006)
Presets (2007)
Force of Gravity (2009)
Sceneries (2012)
Home (2015)
One to Zero (2021)

Live

Posthumous Silence (Live DVD, 2008)
Leaving Backstage (Double live album, 2008)

External links

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Unreferenced|date=March 2011}}
 {{Infobox musical artist
-| name                = [[Sylvan]]
+| name                = Sylvan
-| Landscape           = No
 | background          = group_or_band
 | origin              = [[Hamburg]], [[Germany]]
-| genre               = [[Progressive rock]], [[Symphonic rock]]
+| genre               = [[Progressive rock]], [[symphonic rock]]
-| label               = [[ProgRock Records]]
+| label               = [[Sylvan Music]]
 | years_active        = 1998–present
 | associated_acts     = Temporal Temptation, Chameleon
 | website                 = [http://www.sylvan.de www.sylvan.de]
+| current_members     = {{plainlist|
-| current_members     = [[Marco Glühmann]] (Vocals 1995-Present)<br/>[[Matthias Harder]] (Drums 1990-Present)<br/>[[Sebastian Harnack]] (Bass 2000-Present)<br/>[[Jan Petersen (band member)|Jan Petersen]] (Guitar 2007-Present)<br/>[[Volker Söhl]] (Keyboard 1990-Present)
+*[[Volker Söhl]]
-| past_members        = [[Kay Söhl]] (Guitar 1990-2007)<br/>[[Marko Heisig]] (Vocals 1991)<br/>[[Matthias Koops]] (Vocals 1992)
+*[[Matthias Harder]]
+*[[Marco Glühmann]]
+*[[Sebastian Harnack]]
+}}
+| past_members        = {{plainlist|
+*[[Kay Söhl]]
+*[[Marko Heisig]]
+*[[Matthias Koops (band member)|Matthias Koops]]
+*[[Jan Petersen (band member)|Jan Petersen]]
+}}
 }}
@@ Line 18: / Line 26: @@
 == History ==
+Kay Söhl and keyboardists Volker Söhl and Matthias Harder founded the band '''Temporal Temptation''' in 1990. That summer, the eventual founders of Sylvan first played live — mostly hard rock sung in German, with only a little progressive rock.
+In Autumn 1990, the band changed its name to '''Chameleon''' as a symbol of changeability. The album artwork resembled early [[Marillion]] covers and it was never issued. In Summer 1991, Marko Heisig joined Chameleon as the lead singer and bassist. Between 1992 and 1994, their music turned gloomy and aggressive. In 1992, the first official demo tape of Chameleon was released. With Matthias Koops as lead singer, the second official demo tape was recorded. The title was ''Slaves'' and its track list was ''Time,'' ''Slaves,'' ''Mirror of a Lifetime,'' and ''Childhood Dreams.''
-Kay Söhl, the two keyboarders Volker Söhl and Matthias Harder, founded the band Temporal Temptation in the spring of 1990. By that summer the band had already played its first gig - the first live performance of the core founding members of the band. In a way it was also Sylvan’s birth. At this time the band played hard rock music and sang in German. Only a small part of their music was progressive rock.
+In 1995, guest musician Marco Glühmann joined the band, and a third and final demo tape was recorded. The track list was ''Beren and Luthien,'' ''Golden Cage,'' and ''Outro.'' All of these songs later appeared on the ''Deliverance'' album in some way.
-In Autumn 1990, the band changed its name to [[Chameleon (German band)|Chameleon]], a symbol of changeability, representing the long instrumental parts in their music. The cover artwork had a likeness to early [[Marillion]] covers and has never been issued. In summer 1991 Marko Heisig joined Chameleon as the lead singer and bassist. Between 1992 and 1994 the band had a gloomy and aggressive tonality to them and in this they were very different from the more rocky sounds of the previous years. In 1992 the first official demo tape of Chameleon was released. With Matthias Koops as lead singer, the second official demo tape was recorded. The title was 'Slaves' and its tracklist was 'Time', 'Slaves', 'Mirror of a Lifetime' and 'Childhood Dreams'.
+In 1997 the last live concert took place under the name Chameleon. The band then changed its name to '''Sylvan'''. ''Deliverance'' was recorded in 1998 and a second CD, ''Encounters'', was released in 2000.
-In winter 1995 one of the band’s dreams was fulfilled: Marco Glühmann, an old friend who played many years before with Chameleon, joined the band. Within the same year the third and last official demo tape was recorded. The tracklist was 'Beren and Luthien', 'Golden Cage' and 'Outro'. All of these songs have merged into Sylvan's first studio album in one way or another.
+Sylvan had utilized several bassists, but, in Spring 2000, Sebastian Harnack filled the role permanently. After releasing ''Encounters,'' the band toured in [[Germany]] and at several festivals in [[Europe]] and even in [[Mexico]]. Another highlight was the performance of ''Encounters / Das Rockballet'' together with the "New Dance Project". In October 2002, Sylvan released a third album, ''Artificial Paradise''.
-In 1997 the last live concert took place under the name Chameleon. The band changed its name to ''Sylvan''. Their first cd was recorded in 1998 and the second was released in 2000. The music of the band is [[progressive rock]] with some [[hard rock]] moments, and some melodic [[pop-rock]] elements, probably lingering from earlier in their career. Other apparent influences include [[psychedelic rock]] rock, a little [[Pink Floyd]] in the spacey elements, [[Marillion]] and [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]].
+Sylvan's fourth album, ''X-Rayed,'' sounds rougher and darker, another [[concept album]], with each song telling a story of people coping with an emotional situation. The 2004 tour throughout Germany and Europe featured an  appearance at the Rites of Spring Festival in [[Pennsylvania]], USA, and the support of [[Marillion]] in Cologne.
-''Sylvan'' had engaged several different bassists until in spring 2000, Sebastian Harnack completed the band to care for the basslines permanently – just in time to join the [[Encounters (album)|Encounters]]-tour that was finished in spring 2002. The five musicians enthralled their audience not only in [[Germany]], but on several festivals in different [[Europe]]an countries and even in [[Mexico]]. Another highlight was the performance of "Encounters – Das Rockballet" together with the "New Dance Project".
+Sylvan then produced two albums, both released in April 2006.  ''Posthumous Silence'' tells of a father who reads the diary of his apparently dead daughter and learns of her desperation. ''Presets'' had shorter and catchier songs with the intention  to make Sylvan's music known to a wider range of rock fans.
-In October 2002, ''Sylvan'' released [[Artificial Paradise (Sylvan album)|Artificial Paradise]], their third album.
+Shortly after finishing this work, founder and guitarist Kay Söhl left the band. He was replaced at the end of 2007 by Jan Petersen, who had been a guest guitarist during the ''Posthumous Silence'' live show.
-Compared to its predecessors ''Sylvan'''s fourth album [[X-Rayed (album)|X-Rayed]] sounds rougher and darker. On this album, too, the songs all embrace a single subject: each tells a story about people who try to cope with an emotional encumbering situation. The release party in April 2004 was followed by an extensive tour throughout Germany and Europe (until winter 2005) with two outstanding events: the appearance at the [[Rites of Spring Festival]] in Phoenixville, USA, and the support of [[Marillion]] in Cologne.
-Those highlights gave ''Sylvan'' important support to cope with the most stressful year in their history. Producing two albums simultaneously that couldn’t be more different entailed an enormous and almost unbearable workload. They released the first of the two albums, [[Posthumous Silence (album)|Posthumous Silence]], in April 2006. The album subject – a father reads the diary of his apparently dead daughter and learns for the first time about her desperation – as well as the complexity of the compositions could by all means have scared potential listeners off. Instead, the music as well as the story manages to enthrall the audience instantly and to touch everybody in a unique way.
-The next album is called [[Presets (album)|Presets]] – which tries to make Sylvan's music known to a wider range of rock fans. Produced at the same time as the predecessor, Presets with its shorter and more catchy songs formed a perfect counterpart.
-Shortly after finishing the work on their last two albums another major change in the band took place as founding member Kay Söhl who had been the band's guitarist for many years decided to leave the band. However at the end of 2007 Sylvan was very happy to present a new band member to the public: Jan Petersen who already had been part of the Posthumous Silence - Live Show as a guest guitarist.
 == Band members ==
-=== Current members ===
+;Current members
+* Volker Söhl - keyboards (1990–present)
-* Marco Glühmann (Vocals)
-* Matthias Harder (Drums)
+* Matthias Harder - drums (1990–present)
+* Marco Glühmann - vocals (1995–present)
-* Sebastian Harnack (Bass)
+* Sebastian Harnack - bass (2000–present)
-* Jan Petersen (Guitar)
-* Volker Söhl (Keyboard)
-===Former members===
+;Former members
-* Kay Söhl (Guitar)
+* Kay Söhl - guitar (1990–2007)
+* Marko Heisig - vocals (1991)
+* Matthias Koops - vocals (1992)
+* Jan Petersen - guitar (2007–2013)
 == Discography ==
+;Albums
-* ''[[Deliverance (Sylvan album)|Deliverance]]'' (1999)
+* ''Deliverance'' (1999)
 * ''Encounters'' (2000)
-* ''[[Artificial Paradise (Sylvan album)|Artificial Paradise]]'' (2002)
+* ''Artificial Paradise'' (2002)
-* ''[[X-Rayed (album)|X-Rayed]]'' (2004)
+* ''X-Rayed'' (2004)
-* ''[[Posthumous Silence (album)|Posthumous Silence]]'' (Konzeptalbum, 2006)
+* ''Posthumous Silence'' (2006)
-* ''[[Presets (album)|Presets]]'' (2007)
+* ''Presets'' (2007)
+* ''Force of Gravity'' (2009)
-* ''[[Posthumous Silence (album)|Posthumous Silence]]'' (Live-DVD, 2008)
+* ''Sceneries'' (2012)
-* ''[[Leaving Backstage (album)|Leaving Backstage]]'' (Live-Doppel-CD, 2008)
+* ''Home'' (2015)
-* ''[[Force of Gravity (album)|Force of Gravity]]'' (2009)
+* ''One to Zero'' (2021)
+;Live
+* ''Posthumous Silence'' (Live DVD, 2008)
+* ''Leaving Backstage'' (Double live album, 2008)
 == External links ==
 * [http://www.sylvan.de Sylvan Homepage]
+* [https://www.facebook.com/sylvan.de Official Facebook page]
 * [http://www.last.fm/music/Sylvan Sylvan at last.fm]
+* https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sylvan-mn0000046557
+* http://hardrockhaven.net/archives/2009/11/sylvan-leaving-backstage/
+{{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvan (Band)}}
 [[Category:German progressive rock groups]]
-[[bg:Силван (група)]]
-[[de:Sylvan]]
-[[fr:Sylvan]]
-[[nl:Sylvan (band)]]

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Germany
Artists	MusicBrainz