Softeis"Illusion"1978 Kraut Rock

From Album Softeis "The Colours Of A Rainbow" 1978

Obscure mid-70's German band from the Marburg region, led by brothers Gerhard Eismann (lead guitar) and Werner Eismann (vocals, bass).Peter Bellendir (drums), Gerald Schwarz (guitar) and Eleonore Wittekindt (keyboards) completed the line-up.Their first album ''The Colours of a Rainbow'' saw the light in 1978 as a private press, recorded during the second week of August 78'.

No surprise why Softeis remained in the shadows, their style is US-influenced straightfowrard Heavy Rock with funky and bluesy beats and little influence from their country's scene.The first couple of tracks are mediocre rockers with an evident Blues influence on Gerhard Eismann's guitar style, suffering from thin drumming and the mediocre production.''Dew on the Meadow'' is a Psych/Rock ballad with interesting keys, but too stereotypical of the style.The eponymous track eventually shows some traces of the German scene, especially NEKTAR and ELOY to a lesser extrent, Space Rock/Prog of good quality with fine atmospheric keys, hypnotic moods and a nice rockin' middle section.Turning the flipside is if things start from zero point.''Easy Talking About Rock'n Roll'' and ''Reflection'' are simple rockers with some decent guitar riffs but no more than that.With ''Your's'' the band returns to a more spacey style with expressive vocals, atmospheric synths and mellow solos, while ''Ilussion'' has some common ground with bands like WANYIETULA or AMENOPHIS, synth-drenched easy-going Progressive Rock with melodic guitars (in a CAMEL vein) but also some nice breaks.''Komposition für Bass und Schlagzeug'' is a good closer.Very complex Progressive Rock with a Fusion character, highlighted by its frenetic bass/drums battle, quite intersting and original.

Seems like Softeis' music suffered from bipolar disease.One moment offers uninspired US-type of rock with no signs of imagination, but the next one the band chooses to play a more artistic style with strong prog leanings.These are not enough to fully recommend the album, but anyone into German Prog/Rock obscurities will find a few nice passages to enjoy in ''The Colours of a Rainbow''.