There
have been reports about a number of personnel changes, causing concern among
their international fan community that Masterplan mark 2007 may not continue
where the exceptional standard of their first two releases had left off. But
rest assured - these worries have turned out to be entirely unfounded. Now that
the veil of speculation and rumours has been lifted, Masterplan are about to
present an album that will elicit unanimous comments from connoisseurs of the
scene: absolutely terrific from the first to the final note! Not only have
Masterplan effortlessly reconfirmed the compositional class of their two
predecessor albums, Masterplan (2003) and Aeronautics (2005), they have even
upped the ante. MK II, the third offering by the band surrounding former
Helloween axeman Roland Grapow, features twelve haunting tracks that are a
credit to the melodic metal genre. The guitarist, composer and producer from
Hamburg has turned over a new leaf in his own musical history with his reformed
group, coming up with a recording full of breathtaking songs, marked by an
absorbing dynamism and brimming with enthusiasm. Although this kind of comment
may sound like a contradiction in view of the recent line-up changes: never
before have Masterplan sounded as tight and homogeneous as they do on MK II!
Let’s briefly dwell on the current line-up: Jørn Lande´s place at the Masterplan
mic has been taken over by a singer whose voice is perfect for this band:
Mike DiMeo, a known quantity since his days with Riot and The Lizards, not
only understands Masterplan’s special musical flair, incorporating it into his
impressive vocal melodies, but he has also left his mark on the new album. It
would be impossible to deliver a more convincing debut! The second new addition
is Mike Terrana (ex-Rage), who recorded the drum parts for the new
Masterplan material at the studio only a few days after drummer Uli Kusch had
left the fold. Terrana and Grapow have not only been friends for years, they
also have great artistic respect for each other as colleagues, showing on MK II
how congruent their artistic visions are. Terrana’s drum parts are extremely
intense, yet always leave the material enough air to breathe. Next to Grapow and
the two new additions, DiMeo and Terrana, bassist Jan S. Eckert and keyboard
player Axel Mackenrott, both members of the original line-up, continue to be an
integral part of Masterplan, both having contributed compositions to the current
album.MK II sees Masterplan once again succeed in that difficult balancing act of presenting an amazingly broad range of different tracks within a fixed stylistic framework. From fast double bass numbers reminiscent of Grapow’s previous musical career, such as ‘Warriors Cry’ and ‘Masterplan’, through driving mid-tempo tracks such as ‘Keeps Me Burning’, ‘Lost And Gone’ (which will be the first single to be lifted from the album), ‘Call The Gipsy’ or ‘Take Me Over’ to songs with great atmospheres and conceptual depth (‘Watching The World’, ‘Trust In You’, ‘Heart Of Darkness’), Masterplan explore the whole range that their genre offers. That this band pairs impressive songwriting qualities with technical skills that are absolutely beyond reproach has been a known fact for a long time. MK II was mixed and mastered at Helsinki’s Finnvox Studios by Mikko Karmilla and Mika Jussila, and Grapow produced the twelve new compositions himself.
So what more do the fans want in view of this impressive album? To see the tracks performed live on stage as soon as possible, of course. And they will not be kept waiting for too long: starting at the end of February, Masterplan are scheduled to tour with Saxon, playing most of Europe’s important metal venues for over two and a half months – fifty shows which are bound to leave music fans in many countries awed by this bands. Any bets to the contrary?
