Vanden Plas - Live 2025
4 years have passed since Vanden Plas thrilled the prog and rock audience with their last double CD "The Ghost Xperiment – Awakening" (2019) and "The Ghost Xperiment – Illumination" (2020).
Now, their latest masterpiece "The Empyrean Equation Of The Long Lost Things" is released. And it can be said without a doubt: The wait was worth it.
Anyone thinking that the German prog-rock flagship has been lying idle in port in the meantime is gravely mistaken. Although the multi-year pandemic slowed down the planned live activities directly after the release of the last two albums, it did not succeed in taking away the sworn group’s vision, the joy of composing, and the love for music. And so the noble cruiser sets sail for new shores, loaded with valuable cargo.
Between the aforementioned studio albums and the current CD, Vanden Plas released "Live & Immortal," a live CD/DVD/BluRay in 2022, which emphatically demonstrates that the band is also a force to be reckoned with in their live concerts, capable of thrilling the audience and inspiring frenzied reactions.
At the same time, the musicians dedicated themselves to their second passion. Their latest rock opera "Last Paradise Lost" was performed over 50 times in theaters in Kaiserslautern, Münster, and Innsbruck between 2021 and 2023 – despite the imposed Corona regulations. A feat in these times which was rewarded with great success and enthusiastic reviews.
And, as if this were not enough: In 2021, guitarist Stephan Lill and singer Andy Kuntz decided to launch another band called All My Shadows to give their preference for melodic hard rock a platform. The debut "All My Eerie Monsters," released in early 2023, was reviewed fantastically in all internationally renowned trade magazines and was an unexpected but welcome announcement from the Vanden Plas camp.
There was also a significant change: After more than 30 years, keyboardist Günter Werno left the band to focus more on his own projects. An initially unusual situation for Vanden Plas, whose stability in terms of line-up is unparalleled in the music business. The fact that the musicians continue to collaborate on various theater projects shows that the separation took place by mutual agreement.
The band shook it off briefly and then immediately set out to find a new comrade in the position at the keys. The requirement profile: They were looking for an experienced, versatile, and skilled musician who would not only take over a legacy but could also bring new impulses to the band through his mentality, musicality, and style. "After a short exploratory phase, we had only one name on our list, and we hoped that our 'preferred solution' would agree," Stephan Lill said. "We contacted Alessandro Del Vecchio, whom we knew through his bands and his work as a producer, but also through our collaboration in songwriting for other bands. We were 100% convinced that he was the right one for Vanden Plas. And – after a brief consideration, he agreed to join us ... We were happy and relieved to have such a great musician on board for our band." Drummer Andreas Lill adds: "Over 30 years in the same line-up – that's a damn long time ... We were not looking for a transitional solution, but a solid, stable presence."
For Alessandro Del Vecchio, the request was also surprising. "Honestly, I didn't expect to be called by such a band. Of course, I was aware that Günter had left, but I didn't see that coming, even though we had worked on various projects and written songs with Stephan, Andy, and Markus. Replacing Günter isn't easy, as he was always very important for the band's sound, but I come with the utmost respect for the band's history and also know that I can bring in different elements that have more to do with the prog rock of the 70s, like a more intensive use of the Hammond organ. It will still be classic VP, and it's a great album!! I am definitely at my best element when it's prog, and when it's done with such artistry as with VP!!!"
Guitarist Stephan Lill, who was also primarily responsible for the compositions on the last CDs, is now solely responsible for the music on "The Empyrean Equation Of The Long Lost Things," while Andy Kuntz contributes the lyrics and vocal lines as usual.
Andy Kuntz: "I have appreciated Alessandro since our collaboration on his great Frontiers Allstars project, which featured many well-known and renowned rock musicians. Due to the timing, Alessandro could not yet be involved in the songwriting for this CD. This will surely change on the next CDs. However, his playing has already left many shades of color on the songs and sound. The new artistic constellation is audible and tangible in this production."
Vanden Plas have remained true to their style: prog rock, where elegy and melody are important elements, and where metallic and epic influences cannot be lacking either. Moreover, one can also observe: Vanden Plas are clearly moving towards "back to the roots!"
It is known that the group also enjoys moving off the beaten musical paths. And so the quintet manages to surprise again and again.
The title track, an 8-minute opening song, is a compositional gem, where the instrumentalists can without reservation showcase their musicality and virtuosity. With gentle and graceful piano sounds, new member Alessandro Del Vecchio enters the Vanden Plas mystery before the quasi-instrumental part takes extraordinary stylistic measures and unexpectedly presents monumental choral hymns. Singer Andy Kuntz enters the scene from the following "Icarian Flight," which simultaneously also represents the first video for the new long player "The Empyrean Equation Of The Long Lost Things." With his uncanny sense for extraordinary yet catchy vocal arcs, an incredibly versatile performance on this album, and with an unmistakable distinctiveness in his voice, he leaves his significant mark on this album, as expected. "Sanctimonarium" shows how prog rock can sound today: Driving guitar riffs paired with heavy Hammond sounds, elaborate arrangements combined with a chorus that leaves nothing to be desired, along with longer instrumental passages – led by Andreas Lill's whiplash-fine drumming of the highest class, underpinned by Torsten Reichert's soulful and laid-back bass grooves, ignited by Alessandro Del Vecchio's furious musical distinction, and brought together by a Stephan Lill who transcends himself compositionally and technically on this album. The musicians' joy in playing is palpable at every second. The driving "Sacrilegious Mind Machine" and the balladic "They Call Me God," with one of the most touching guitar solos that Stephan Lill has ever celebrated on record, lead into the epic closing piece "March Of The Saints," which exceeds 15 minutes. A work that is bursting with variety, virtuosity, spontaneity, and joy of playing is hard to describe – "cinema for the ears" might come close to capturing it. And so this musical fireworks fittingly ends with a Vanden Plas-typical, epoch-making milestone.
In a rather loose conceptual text this time, the seemingly solitary songs on "The Empyrean Equation Of The Long Lost Things" tell stories about the loss of seemingly small or taken-for-granted things. Things that we often fail to appreciate enough simply because they are just there, or that we may lose through carelessness over the course of life. Quisquilien, which make life worth living, and without which one might stray from one's actual path.
For those who enjoy varied, rocky music that is simultaneously melodic and progressive, where intricate arrangements and technically demanding instrumental parts blend with profound lyrics, this album is unmissable.
If one considers the imagery that the text concept proposes, this album might very well be the jewel that the band had misplaced somewhere in the music universe and has now been rediscovered due to losses and situations they have had to face.
Doors open: 7:00 PM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
