Eden, 1980 LP: Perelandra - A2 Er Wird Sein (He Will Be)

If you get just one Eden album, make it this one. Perelandra is the group’s shining moment, a brilliant 5-star professional work that’s sure to satisfy the hunger of those who grew up on ‘70s progressive rock. Synthesizer lovers will have a field day here; this thing is absolutely drenched with multifaceted spacey soaring keyboards, all of them made even more bright and vivid by the flawless production. Eden has proudly achieved their own unique sound by balancing hard rock electric guitars and power synths with lyrical melodies and skillful classical instrumentation. Loud and aggressive one moment (‘Abgesang’, ‘Lichtlied’), drifty moody surreal passages the next (‘Er Wird Sein’). Some beautiful ethereal female harmonies with a choral-like quality, sounding particularly effective on the powerful seven-minute title track. A couple instrumental tracks: ‘Zwischenspiel’ and the intensely stirring ‘Im Bragdon-Weld’. Skillful violin and flute work, plus acoustic guitar, piano, even a sitar on ‘Bilder Einer Welt’. Don’t let the German lyrics dissuade you – you never understood what all those Yes songs meant either, did you? Some imported copies have an English translation enclosed – yes, it’s overtly Christian if that’s important to you. The album title is based on one of the novels in C. S. Lewis’ space trilogy. Once again the cover art is amazing. Deserves equal standing on the art rock pedestal with Jimmy Hotz and Arkangel. Also released on the German Eden label (EM20001) in 1981. (Ken Scott – Archivist).

Eden was a large German band that did Christian prog, meaning that their work was based on Christian themes. I barely understand German, but this is obviously an adaptation of CS Lewis's science fiction Christian-themed trilogy. Eden was a big band that featured violin prominently, as well as flute and assorted percussion, but still with a rock base. excellent keyboard textures (if you like late 70s string synthy sounds) and a variety of good male and female vocals, often in powerful sounding choruses. Unlike their first album, "Erwartung", another concept album, the band went for shorter songs on this one, all of which pack a very dramatic, earnest punch. This almost-forgotten band won't be everyone's cup of tea, but fans of Novalis and late 70s Eloy will certainly enjoy this record. (Progarchives)

Founded in Eininghausen, Germany in 1977 - Disbanded in 1981
German outfit EDEN was founded in 1977, when three members of the "Freie christliche Jugendgemeinschaft" decided to form a band; one of the first christian progressive rock bands in Germany. In the 5 years the band existed they were an active recording and live unit; with a plethora of people involved in the recording of the three albums they released. The debut album "Erwartung" was issued in 1978, and the sophomore effort "Perelandra"; based on C. S. Lewis christian science fiction novel of the same name, was issued in 1980. The third and last creation of Eden was their 1981 production "Heimkehr"; and in December the same year the band gave it's last public appearance.
A multitude of musicians was involved in Eden prior to folding, and the core members that were involved in all their recorded material were Michael Claren (bass, vocals, guitar), Anne Dierks (vocals), Michael Dierks (keyboards, vocals), Hans Fritzsch (guitars), Hans Müller (drums, percussion), Annette Schmalenbach (vocals), Dirk Schmalenbach (violin, acoustic guitar, sitar, keyboards percussion, vocals).
Dirk Smalenbach would later reappear in the one-off project Yavanna, who released an album in 1984.

Eden
LP: Perelandra
Released: 1980 (Second of three releases)
Label: Lord Records
Country: Germany
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Krautrock, Prog Rock
Recorded at Eden-Studio, November 1979 - January 1980

Hans Müller : Drums, Congas, Timbales, Percussion
Hans Fritzsch: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Dirk Schmalenbach: Vocals, Synthesizer [Polymoog, Crumar & Roland Synthesizer & Sequenzer], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Piano, Strings, Sitar, Percussion
Michael Dierks: Vocals, Polymoog Synthesizer , Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes, Clavinet], Organ, Piano, Engineer
Michael Claren: Vocals, Bass, Guitar, 12 String Acoustic Guitar
Dieter Neuhäuser: Flute
Anne Dierks, Annette Schmalenbach: Vocals
Christos Charapis, Kiriakos Charapis: Bouzouki (Greek Lute)
Dirk Schmalenbach: Engineer, Producer, Arranger
Recorded At Eden Studio, Lüdenscheid

Tracklist
A1 Abgesang, Music & text by Dirk Schmalenbach
A2 Er Wird Sein (He Will Be), Music & text by Michael Dierks
A3 Lichtlied (Light Song), Music & text by Michael Dierks
A4 Zwischenspiel (Intermediate Play)
A5 Dem Verborgenen Zuwider (The Hidden One Contrary), Music & text by Dirk Schmalenbach
B1 Perelandra, Music & text by Dirk Schmalenbach
B2 I’m Bragdon-Wald (I’m Bragdon Forest), Music & text by Dirk Schmalenbach
B3 Bilder Einer Welt (Pictures Of A World), Music & text by Michael Dierks
B4 Ausklang (Ended)