Sylvan is a German

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

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 Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...

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, ''

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,'' 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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and at several festivals in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and even in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. 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 A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, 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 Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, USA, and the support of

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

Sylvan Homepage

Official Facebook page

Sylvan at last.fm
* https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sylvan-mn0000046557 * http://hardrockhaven.net/archives/2009/11/sylvan-leaving-backstage/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvan (Band) German progressive rock groups