$8.99

APOGEE shows the solo works of Arne SCHÄFER, the talented leader and singer of German band VERSUS X. Apart from this collective experience, he's also written numerous tracks, a selection of which is included on "The Border Of Awareness" (1994). He shows there his obvious talents as multi-instrumentalist and as exceptional guitarist. Created by a brilliant composer, this CD reveals an incredible musical culture, that also includes German folk, jazz, Progressive rock, contemporary music and hard-rock. The five long tracks included on "Sisyphos" (1998) show a complex, sophisticated, contrasted and sometimes tortured art with expressive vocal lines, in a spirit close to Peter HAMMILL's. He particularly likes long themes with various changes, with magnified and refined sub-themes thanks to the large instrumental choice (Energetic electric guitar, delicate acoustic guitar, technique keyboards parts...). The five tracks of "The Garden Of Delights" (2003) develop an ambitious and complex symphonic rock that also shows a truly personal meditation about the human race, the conscience and the perception. Those 70 minutes of music blossom with musical structures and sophisticated themes. The atmospheres are thus varied, from the airy acoustic to the furious electric style, all of this wrapped into spacious keyboards lines, and with a few subtle dissonances.