ROUGH SILK – Symphony Of Life

Germany’s Rough Silk is a band I always described as “close to do it big”. Now they’re even closer. Like so many bands in the year of 2001, Ferdy Doernberg and his buddies do their best album in many, many years. I can’t say that Thomas Ludolphy ever was my favorite singer, but I must admit he has taken a big leap in the right direction on “Symphony Of Life”. The record is conceptual, and based on this poor guy who wants to commit suicide. As we all know, there’s a capital sentence for that. His act is interrupted as he hears voices from six feet under, and the listener is taken through time and different cultures as these voices speak. I might have gotten a detail or two wrong here, so please forgive me… Anyway, the music is highly diverse, and the melodies that Ferdy has come up with are stronger than ever. Speaking of Ferdy, he really shows he’s more than a enormously talented keyboard player, as he plays slide guitars as well, like he did on his solo project “Storyteller’s Rain”. And not only that, but the man who actually IS my favorite singer guests and co-produces. Jon Oliva shows that he still has a rough and evil register on “Lucifer”, the old Mountain King can still do it!