Melanie Mau & Martin Schnella - 2022 - Invoke The Ghosts

(61:52; Melanie Mau & Martin Schnella)

Track list:
1. Nur Ein Spiel 4:54
2. The Beast Is Lurking 4:19
3. Soulmate 5:29
4. Where's My Name 6:36
5. Of Witches and a Pure Heart 9:40
6. Calypso 5:08
7. Red Beard 4:55
8. Ein Stummer Schrei 8:00
9. Das Goldene Königreich (The Virgin Queen) 9:18
10. Wholeheartedly 3:33

Line-up:
Melanie Mau - vocals
Martin Schnella - guitars, vocals
Mathias Ruck - vocals
Lars Lehmann - bass
Simon Schröder - percussion, bodhrán, drums, vocals
with:
Jens Kommnick - uilleann pipes, low whistle, tin whistle, cello, guitars, vocals
Siobhán Kennedy - vocals
Steve Unruh - violin
 

Prolusion.
The German duo consisting of Melanie Mau and Martin Schnella have been releasing material at a steady pace for the past handful of years or thereabouts, with cover albums as well as productions focusing on original material being a part of their repertoire. Earlier this year the twosome was ready with their latest production exploring their own creative powers. The album is called "Invoke the Ghosts", and as is often the case these days the album was self released by the artists.

Analysis.
The partnership of Mau and Schnella pretty much revolves around two key elements: The vocals of Mau and the guitars of Schnella. Melanie Mau has a clean, powerful and melodic voice that she has total control over, and she is well aware of the borders of her range too and doesn't try to overextend her capabilities. Which makes her contributions as a lead singer as well as a key element in the vocal harmonies quite the breathtaking experience when she is on top form and on point. Which she does tend to be of course, like so many other experienced vocalists she has gained the capability of staying put on a top notch quality level as pretty much the default level. A voice it is easy to fall in love with for sure.

Schnella's contributions on the guitar, which is acoustic more often than not, are just as captivating. He applies and delivers firm motifs as well as more gentle details, and will move back and forth between more technically challenging escapades and more delicate emotional laden landscapes with ease. Perhaps more important is that he knows where to go to support or emphasize the needs of the song, and that he and Mau both appear to have a tight understanding of how they can work together to strengthen each other's contributions. Which does give this album a solid foundation indeed.

There is much more to this album and the music than the above elements of course, with other musicians being a part of the experience here and with Schnella being more than just a guitarist too, but the above aspects are the dominant ones. The additional musicians support very well and do add tone and colour too, and when appropriate will be given dominant spots to explore too. Especially when the compositions venture beyond the acoustic rock landscapes and into more folk music oriented territories. Irish and Celtic vibes are rather dominant on this album as a matter of fact, with some world music details added here and there and with bassist Lehmann appearing to add a little bit of a jazz flavor on occasion too.

Personally I did find that a couple of the songs didn't quite manage to enthrall me, but this is something that comes down to personal taste in music rather than any other factors of note. Hence there's really no reason to single these out either.

Conclusion.
The word that strikes me with this album, just as with all the other albums I have experienced by this creative duo and their band, is that the material is solid. The mix and production manages to emphasize the strong qualities of the material in addition to being of a generally high quality, the compositions are solid and well thought out, and the performances by the vocalists and instrumentalists are solid and of high quality throughout. A certain affection for a blend of acoustic rock and Irish / Celtic folk music will of course be helpful and probably needed, but for those that can subscribe to this and who also enjoy progressive rock in general should find "Invoke the Ghosts" to be quite the mesmerizing experience.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, July 2022

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/melaniemauundmartinschnella