Review: Kaisers Bart – Meister5tück

Style: traditional progressive metal (clean vocals, German lyrics)
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Pagan’s Mind, Vanden Plas
Review by: Sam
Country: Germany
Release date: 9 February, 2018

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the February 2018 edition of The Progressive Subway.[

You know how in almost every prog metal review ever, there’s at least one sentence which goes along the lines of: “Fortunately this band is not another bad Dream Theater clone”, to then proceed to say how said band –unlike Dream Theater– does not wank (= soloing/showing off) endlessly for the sake of it, and that the music is coherent, original and emotional? Well, I’m about to shatter your hopes and dreams and do the contrary, because this is exactly one of those bad Dream Theater clones (well, they sound more like Pagan’s Mind, but those bands are similar anyway).

Now I’m sure most of you have already lost interest in Kaisers Bart and have either moved on to the next album review or you’re just reading this out of obligation to read the entire thing. But hold your horses, Kaisers Bart is not as bad as my opening paragraph made it sound. On the contrary actually, Meister5tück is not bad at all and shows a lot of potential for a debut album, albeit its flaws.

What immediately stands out when spinning Meister5tück is the dream-like guitar and synth tones that is heavily reminiscent of Pagan’s Mind. And the PM comparisons don’t stop there: the riffs bear a lot of similarities to the prog power giants as well, both in tone and in style. The production is also very much 2000s prog power with very heavy, crunchy guitar riffs. Lastly the vocals are every bit as operatic and bombastic as you expect them to given the genre.

The production is very uneven. The guitar and synths tones are incredible, however the drums sound quite muffled and the bass is often confined to the background. The lead guitar sometimes also inexplicably move to the background behind the drums and the rhythm guitar, causing the sonic pallet to sound off. Also while the individual tones are good, it has a tendency to sound like loose compartments put together instead of sounding a whole.

The songwriting here is excellent. For prog power it’s very emotional and heart felt music and Mischa Mang’s vocals are every bit as bombastically emotional as you expect from good prog power vocalists. He’s no Tom Englund (Evergrey singer), but he certainly holds his own compared to other famous singers in the genre. There are kickass riffs, but also softer piano and/or acoustic sections to make the music varied enough to keep you captivated. It can be cheesy at times, but that’s to be expected.

The solos generally have excellent structuring and melodic phrasing. However, I find myself often wanting more from Kaisers Bart than I get. I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but they should shred more. if you’re gonna imitate Dream Theater, you should be able to (warning: NSFW) wank so hard you have hentai levels of ejaculation. I find myself wishing they’d just go a little more over the top with their solos. Show off all your techniques and just how good you can play. Tell those guitar wannabees in their face just how much their skills suck and how much better you are at shredding than they are. If you want to stand out in this particular style of prog, you better show just how much of a guitar god you are. Good isn’t enough. Like Mike Portnoy once said: “My style is basically: ‘more is more’”.

So TLDR: Meister5tück is a very promising debut from the German progressive power metallers. However the production can be quite uneven, and for Pagan’s Mind/Dream Theater worship they should wank more. I’ll definitely be looking out to their sophomore effort.

Recommended tracks: Verwirrung, Entstehung, Erlösung
You may also like: Hephystus, Lost in Thought, Lanfear
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page

Label: 7hard – Facebook | Official Website

Kaiser’s Bart is:
– Mischa Mang (vocals)
– Uli Riedinger (guitars)
– Steffen Pflügner (keyboards)
– Minz Meyer (bass)
– Danilo Batdorf (drums)