Synthagma - 2025 - Radical Animal

(47:42; Synthagma)

Track list:
1. Radical Animal Pt.1 6:15
2. Fenris 8:15
3. Sound of a Cat's Footstep 6:04
4. Power 9:23
5. Radical Animal Pt.2 14:17
6. Epilog 3:28

Line-up:
Roland Eichler-Hungerbach - vocals, guitars
Ropp Koehler - keyboards
Thomas Bruhns - bass
Thomas Kols - drums


Prolusion. 
German band Synthagma was formed back in 2021, and consists of members with a solid pedigree in the German progressive rock scene. Initially a duo, the band developed into a quartet prior to hitting the recording studio to prepare their material for an official release. The end result of that process is the album "Radical Animal", which was self released by the band in the summer of 2025.

Analysis.
It is a mostly instrumental variety of progressive rock we get with this album, and apart from choral voice effects we only get one song where the vocals have any substantial role to play. Otherwise this is a creation that revolves around the instruments and instrumentalists, and those who enjoy lead instrument passages will find a lot to enjoy on this production.

In many ways this is also a bit of a retro-oriented affair, where it seems clear that the band know their way around many of the giants as well as the lesser known bands from the golden age of the progressive rock catalogue. In many ways I find this album to come across as a little bit of a celebration of that era, arguably with a little bit of focus that for my sake I'd say is situated around 1975. Possibly with a select few notable expansions in certain details and passages.

Sacral moods and atmospheres with choral voice effects and the church organ sound opens and concludes this production, which for many and myself included will be a tasteful and enticing manner in which to start and end an album experience. In between that we get forays into a more complicated and quirky variety of progressive rock and symphonic progressive rock, with names such as Gentle Giant and ELP being rather likely names to drop. More electronic oriented constructions make their way into this landscape too, sometimes with a little bit of an ambient feel, but always with a sound and expression of the kind that makes Tangerine Dream an easy name to pick as an association. 

We also get more atmospheric laden ventures into the symphonic progressive rock landscape here, with one composition in particular that does come with some cues where I suspect I won't be the only one to get instant Genesis associations. In between we get some hard, chaotic prog statements that may or may not have an Atomic Rooster origin as far as inspiration goes, but also some flirts with the more delicate parts of the pastoral folk varieties that is a part of the progressive rock legacy. In addition, some of the darker moments of the album may or may not be a tip of the hat in the direction of bands such as Van der Graaf Generator. 

The one little nitpick detail that some may have a negative response to is that some of the heavier guitar details can come across as a little bit on the rough side of matters in terms of sound and distortion. In this case a matter of subjective taste rather than lack of finesse though, at least as I experienced this production, but for those who tend to obsess over smaller details this is something that, possibly, merits a mention.

Conclusion.
I find that this debut album by Synthagma is quite the charming affair. That the band ebb and flow between more careful and more intricate constructions from one song to the other as well as inside of the individual compositions does result in a natural tendency to become engaged and intrigued, and the combination of familiar types of movements explored in a subtly different sounding manner also maintains a good level of engagement for me as a listener. If you enjoy vintage era progressive rock in a more atmospheric laden as well as a more quirky and intricate manner, this is an album that will have a good chance of making a positive impact and impression - at least in my opinion. 

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, July 2025

Links:
https://synthagma-music.de/