Please let me know what you think about the teaser from our upcoming CD. ... Any feedback appreciated.
The Teaser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGIvBdJIo3UArjen from Ayreon said this...
Bandinfo
P.A.W.N. is proud to present its first CD: "The Gift of Awareness" – an epic and melodic Progressive Metal-Rock album that encourages one's mind to wander. The heart of the album is the 26-minute title track, the centerpiece for the intricately arranged concept. Progressive guitar riffs alternate with symphonic keyboard sounds and instrumental parts that are surprisingly approachable for the progressive genre. The female vocals offer an unusual contrast to the multilayered and complex music, without resorting to cliche'd operatic tricks.
From listening to this powerfully produced album, it's hard to believe that most of the parts were created by only two musicians: Sebastian Rudolph (Keyboards, Keyboard-Guitars & Basses (Ministry of Rock), Vocals, iPad) and Dennis Matzat (Drums, Percussion). The duo not only composed and recorded the songs, but has also produced the album, in doing so, exploring the boundaries of home recording. Selected guest musicians were invited to join the pair from Hamburg, including Michael Klein. Klein, formerly a full member of the band P.A.W.N., contributes the lyrics to all of the songs and some vocals to the pirate-progger "A Voyage of Uncertainty“. Gottfried Rudolph and Sven Rhenius support the project with some acoustic-guitar-fills. Finally, the most impressive guest performance is contributed by Lisa-Marie Rothe (Vocals, Artwork and Logo Design).
P.A.W.N. was founded in 2002 as a sequel to the Hamburg Gothic-Death-Metal-combo Querimonia, who released their one and only album "Void of Malice" in 1998 on the Source of Deluge label. During the next years, P.A.W.N. made a name for itself in Hamburg through gigs in clubs such as Marx, Logo, Knust and Headbanger’s Ballroom. The highlight of these was the participation in the finals of the Hamburg Emergenza Band-Contest 2005 in the sold-out Hamburger Markthalle. However, various member changes made for a difficult road to bigger success. In that time, the original quintet reduced to a trio, and the band is faced with its biggest challenge yet. In 2009 guitarist Daniel Müller-Ramien was diagnosed with a tumor. On this album, he was only able to join in the song "Vessels" with a short vocal and guitar part. Even so, with his blessing, Sebastian and Dennis decided to continue and finish the record alone.
Daniel succumbed to his disease in January 2014, but his spirit and soul live on in every moment of "The Gift of Awareness".
This album is for you, Daniel.