Subsignal

Subsignal | A Poetry of Rain

NOSTALGIC POETRY
The scene is dominated by a grey, atmospheric and dense late autumn day. Much too soon, the sky has darkened. Now rain pelts down uniformly and regularly on the streets, on the earth, on the morose-looking people. This is how one imagines the atmosphere in which the sixth Subsignal studio album “A Poetry of Rain” was created.
“This very unique mood, which seems soothing and melancholic in equal measure, of course has a lot to do with the exceptional times during the Corona pandemic,” explains Markus Steffen, guitarist and mastermind of the Munich-based German-Dutch quintet. “The virus has led – inevitably – to changes in all of our everyday lives. Deep down, the album title pursues a poetic aspiration. But nostalgia also plays a decisive role. With ‘A Poetry of Rain’ we pursue the ‘cultivation of sadness’, just like the poets during the Renaissance, without ever falling into bottomless gloom. We try to transfer this claim into the current century,” Markus Steffen elegantly explains.
The “predecessor” “La Muerta” is a kind of contrast and requires much more familiarity from the listener. “A Poetry of Rain”, on the other hand, is new territory for everyone involved. This album is also inspired by ancient legends, which are transferred into the modern age. In the rock song “The Art of Giving In”, the Icarus myth features prominently. The over-confidence of mankind, its hubris… losses and goodbyes are also addressed.
For five seemingly endless years, Subsignal kept their followers waiting for new acoustic sound adventures. “And that again had to do with the pandemic,” reveals Markus Steffen the reason for the excruciatingly long break. “Existential anxieties crept in,” he reflects. “As a result, long-time bassist Ralf Schwager left the band. With Martijn Horsten from Rotterdam, however, a worthy replacement was quickly found. Nevertheless, the ten songs are full of longing and a good portion of melancholy.”
It seems as if the progressive mix of rock, metal and art rock succeeds effortlessly. Exceptional drummer Dirk Brand creates a brilliant foundation on which sometimes rocky, sometimes elegant guitar sounds, together with the keyboards, conjure up unique worlds of sound. Above this floats the wonderful timbre of singer Arno Menses – always present, always engaging, full of passion and power. The crystal-clear and powerful production by Yogi Lang from her label Gentle Art Of Music also contributes to this.
According to Markus Steffen, Subsignal want to present “interesting song structures that are always transparent at the same time.” Furthermore, according to Steffen, “when composing, it’s like a kind of trance at the push of a button. So I don’t necessarily have to be in a sad mood to immortalise sad songs on paper. A special atmosphere is enough for me to conjure up the film of a classic Subsignal piece in my mind. It is precisely this unusual approach that makes our formation so original.”

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Subsignal | A Room On The Edge Of Forever

In order to shorten the waiting time for the upcoming studio album, the AOR/Prog-rockband Subsignal send us a sign of life in the form of a wonderful acoustic song.

Guitarist Markus Steffen: “The Corona crisis hit us too: Concerts and festivals had to be canceled and so we were unable to properly promote and celebrate our live album ‘A Song for the Homeless – Live in Rüsselsheim 2019’. In the meantime we have written all the songs on our sixth studio album and the recordings will start soon.”

The song “A Room On The Edge Of Forever” is lyrically based on a poem that Markus Steffen wrote in German originally: “The music corresponds to the words – it’s about the feeling of being abandoned, of loss, of things that might be in has been a topic for quite a few people over the past two years. Certainly the song is rather melancholy, but it also has hopeful elements.”

Singer Arno Menses and guitarist Markus Steffen cut a great figure even without their bandmates and give us a foretaste of the fact that they and their upcoming album must definitely be expected!

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Subsignal | A Song For The Homelesss – Live in Rüsselsheim 2019

Sometimes as a band you may feel as soon as you enter the stage that it could be a special evening. And sometimes there are those magical evenings when everything simply fits: the technology works, the audience goes along and the musicians are bubbling over with joy of playing. That’s how it must have been on 28 March 2019 in the live club “Das Rind” at Subsignal’s live concert. And fortunately someone pressed “record” in time.
Most current live albums, with their polished chrome high gloss sound, perfect performance and artificially mixed in stadium cheers, deny the actual idea of the live album: to capture the atmosphere of the concert on this one evening, with everything that goes with it.
With their live album “A Song for the Homeless – Live in Rüsselsheim 2019” Subsignal prove impressively that after six studio albums they have matured enough musically (and conceptually) to make an authentic and impressive live album.
They did not succumb to the temptation to play the musically complex material live on stage as perfectly as possible and as close to the studio sound as possible.
Instead, the line-up around Arno Menses on vocals, Ralf Schwager on bass, Markus Maichel on keys, Dirk Brand on drums and Markus Steffen on guitar presents itself as an authentic musical organism, performing its own pieces live with heart, dynamics and an incredible joy of playing. On “Songs for the Homeless” you can literally hear and feel that the current line-up of Subsignal has been playing together constantly for several years.
The musical qualities of Subsignal are staged by the extremely energetic and transparent mix of producer/mixing engineer Yogi Lang with a great sense for the dynamics of the pieces. You can also hear and feel that he understands Subsignal’s music and is familiar with the band, since he produced and mixed Subsignal’s last studio album “La Muerta” (together with Kalle Wallner).
The setlist of “A Song for the Homeless – Live in Rüsselsheim 2019” reflects Subsignals diverse musical facets, ranging from innovative progressive rock to AOR and metal to pop. Determining elements of Subsignals music are a certain melancholy paired with virtuosity, emotional melodic passages and a deep understanding of complex arrangements.
“A Song for the Homeless – Live in Rüsselsheim 2019” contains some songs from “La Muerta”, but also songs from older albums, such as the opener “Touchstones” from the 2011 album of the same name or “The Sea”. Even a complex piece like “The Passage” with its many different parts, acoustic guitars and Dirk Brand’s drum solo is performed with ease by the band and is one of the absolute highlights of the album.
Only a few live albums succeed in capturing the magic of the moment and give the listener the feeling of having lived this one magical evening live with the band and the audience. “Live in Rüsselsheim 2019” is one of those rare albums that succeeds in this feat. At the same time, the live album documents the impressive musical diversity and virtuosity that characterizes Subsignal’s music. It’s the ideal album for beginners to get to know Subsignal as a band and for fans it is an opportunity to experience the well-known repertoire in a new way. Almost as if you had been in Rüsselsheim.

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Subsignal | La Muerta

Voyage of discovery

It took Subsignal a good two years, but now they are finally back and ready to release their new album “La Muerta.” On it, as to be expected with the former Sieges Even duo Markus Steffen and Arno Menses, the German band sends the listener on a proper voyage of discovery that is as complex as it is eventful. Subsignal have consciously designed the path to “La Muerta” a tad more accessible than was the case with the predecessor…

It is the fundamental rule in Subsignal: the band always resets the focus and overhauls the pressure points from album to album. That is why in the run-up to “La Muerta” the German outfit did not only sign a new record deal with Gentle Art of Music, but the five-piece also made a decision in favor of a modified approach in terms of the project’s artistic priorities. While on earlier releases the band still lit up the literal torch to lead the audience’s way through the tricky pathways of the delicately tangled progressive rock-undergrowth, this time, despite several hints of assistance here and there, Subsignal indeed put their trust in the power of the songwriting as well as the intuition of the listener. The band’s signature energy is no less essential than ever before, but its unique presence has transformed and taken on a significantly more subtle role. The same goes for the technical sophistication of the musical implementation: it is still a driving force but it no longer lunges right into the listener’s face. Much more it clandestinely sneaks up from the – only seemingly! – diffuse atmosphere to ultimately spread with all the force that fans and critics alike have praised.

As a counter-pole against its enormously intense predecessor, “The Beacons of Somewhere Sometime”, the creation of “La Muerta” was influenced by a significantly more instinctive approach. The band put the emphasis on transparence in material and production – which inevitably demands the subconscious collaboration of those on the receiving end – in this case: the listener. It is a bold approach: one that is not only testament to Subsignal’s great confidence in its songwriting but also of the appreciation that the band has for its listeners. “La Muerta” proves: risk big and you can win big!

In his lyrics Markus Steffen tackles very personal issues. And in the process he skillfully masters the tightrope act of offering words of great honesty – without playing it safe and drifting into mere ‘poetry of the sensitivities.’ It goes for the album’s lyrics as well as the music: Subsignal’s new record is nothing less than a comprehensive piece of art that does not only radiate great emotionality but also maintains a degree of necessary distance with regards to its own truth. “La Muerta” inevitably touches the listener, but it never forces its audience into a preconceived pattern of thought or perception. On this record, the band lead a clear lyrical way – but it is up to the listener to find, discover and experience the essence of “La Muerta” by means of one’s own eyes and ears.
The current lineup, consisting of Markus Steffen (guitar), Arno Menses (vocals), Ralf Schwager (bass), Markus Maichel (keyboards) and Dirk Brand (drums), has remained unchanged for quite some time and thus become a precisely harmonized team of perfection. It is obvious: the micro-adjustments of musical and mechanical aspects no longer required tending to. Much more “La Muerta” showcases a well-oiled fellowship that passionately puts every last bit of energy into the macro-process of painting the big picture. A new album might always start out as a journey into the unknown, but there is not a shadow of a doubt: right from the beginning the minds behind Subsignal had a very clear idea of where “La Muerta” would take them and how they would get there.

Production duties were put into the hands of RPWL’s Yogi Lang and Kalle Wallner. The duo has demonstrated great intuition and provided the songs with enough air to breathe and unfold – without restraining the fascinating density that adds another dimension to that multilayered voyage of discovery that is “La Muerta.”
The paths have been marked, the supplies are packed. This is where the adventure starts – enjoy the ride!

Guest musicians:
Marjana Semkina, vocals (Track 11)
Markus Jehle, piano (Track 11)
Kalle Wallner, additional guitars
Yogi Lang, additional keyboards

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