Green Desert Tree - Progressive Worlds (2019)

A sloping road. In the background - a few meters above the ground - an old man in bent posture pushes his walker towards the horizon. There, where the dark clouds rip open, a glistening light appears. An atmospheric cover photo that stands for a music-made Ascension. The Ascension of Mat Plundrot, the protagonist of the story told by the members of "Green Desert Tree" in music and word.

With their debut "Progressive Worlds", the young band from Berlin is releasing a suspenseful, eclectic and multi-facetted concept album.
An ambitious undertaking and and quite a rare case in the increasingly fast-paced and volatile music scene. In addition to the compositional mastermind Tim Sund (keyboards and composition), Timo Enders (vocals), Simon Rainer (guitars), Alex Will (electric bass) and Jonathan Gradmann (drums) form this expressive ensemble that reviews the life story of Mat Plundrot, with equally virtuoso and atmospheric sound paintings, which captures the audience´s imagination from the first note on.
Although "Progressive Worlds" plunges into the fictitious world of its protagonist, the idea comes from real life, emphasizes Tim Sund. "When I stood in front of my house and waited for the bus, he suddenly passed me by: this slightly grief-stricken old gentleman with his walker. Well-known in my neighborhood, he toddles through the streets every day talking to himself. That's when I asked myself what kind of life he must have gone through in order to get into such a condition," says Sund looking back at the initial spark of the album. "This experience has pulled us into a creative momentum.
Until then it was quite difficult for me to write song lyrics. But all of a sudden the ideas just spurted out of me." As the band mates felt similarly inspired and everyone diligently contributed text and song ideas, the foundation for this drama was quickly laid.
The album starts and ends with instrumentals, the so called Balloni. They are characterized by Sund's spherically floating keyboard sounds and symbolize Plundrot´s Ascension. "These balloons pull the audience into the action and close the circle when his soul finally ascends to heaven," explains Sund.
In between "Green Desert Tree" tells - in random order - nine episodes of Plundrot´s life. At the beginning stands the almost ten-minute title track "Progressive Worlds", which anticipates the ups and downs Plundrot experienced in his life, almost like an overture. Here everything goes quickly: hard, rocking guitar riffs and piercing keyboard sounds alternate with soulful, lyrical passages, in which singer Timo Enders proves the flexibility and versatility of his voice.
What follows is a 60-minutes long, emotional roller coaster ride that seeks answers to the question of how Plundrot became the man he was at the end of his life. Songs like "Beast of Prey" or "Devil in Disguise" indicate that the old, frail man is surrounded by a dark secret. But now - as he sees his life passing by in the form of memories one last time - he has to explain himself.
On the other hand emotional and beautiful ballads like "Life" or "A Glimpse of Eternity" recall happier times, in which Plundrot was allowed to spend light-hearted and harmonious days with the love of his life. What might have happened in between is left to the fantasy of the listener.
The band merely provides clues in the form of musical puzzle pieces. A clever concept the five musicians use to engage their audience without overwhelming it.
Not only Progressive Rock fans are likely to enjoy these varied musical paintings, because the range of sounds and moods "Green Desert Tree" uses in its pieces is huge. "I am lucky that my father is a big music fan. Already in my childhood he would play to me albums of Genesis, Marillion or Saga during car rides. Later on I was fascinated by bands like Guns`n`Roses or Alter Bridge," Enders remembers his broad musical influences.
Influences from Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), Deep Purple or Steven Wilson (including Porcupine Tree) are unmistakable in the sound of "Green Desert Tree" as well. However, the band avoids simply quoting their famous role models. On the contrary, thanks to Sund's tasteful and refined art of arranging, an independent form of Progressive Rock emerges, skillfully combining tradition and modernity.
Or, as Sund puts it: "Progressive Worlds is an exciting hybrid of traditional 1970s soundscapes, blended with modern elements of film music, classical music and jazz." An impressive and strong debut of a young German band, which
we´ll certainly hear more about in the future.
~ Christian Erber, Radio Bremen/NDR



Track List:
01. Balloni (Prologue) 01:13
02. Progressive Worlds 10:00
03. Clear Up Your Mind 05:05
04. Cure Of Change 08:08
05. The Beast Of Prey 07:30
06. Life 04:26
07. Green Desert Tree 08:02
08. The Cave 02:22
09. Devil In Disguise 06:55
10. A Glimpse Of Eternity 08:57
11. Balloni (Epilogue) 05:40

Timo Enders - Vocals, Guitars
Simon Rainer - Guitars
Alex Will - Bass
Tim Sund - Keyboards, Synthesizers
Yatziv Caspi - Drums

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