I’ve already been raving about Frank Van Bogaert several times. His albums ‘Human’ (2002) and ‘Nomads’ (2007) are among the crème de la crème of contemporary electronic music. This is due to the compositional quality, the monumental and overwhelming melodies, the strong rhythms, his technically strong playing and the beautiful and crystal clear production. His latest ‘Air Machine’ is a conceptalbum on which Van Bogaert sees the earth in a metaphorical way as a failing air production machine. This caused by age but most of all by abuse of man. This concept as well as the imagination evoking music could have been of big support to Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ On ‘Air Machine’ Van Bogaert collaborates with Norwegian guitarist Erik Wøllo. Erik’s atmospheric guitar style adds an extra dimension to the already rich compositions and sound of Van Bogaert. The strong rhythm section is not only provided by Van Bogaert’s keys and bass but also by percussionist Walter Mets and drummer Marcus Weymaere. Again the production quality is of the highest level, just listen to those hits in ‘Insomnia’, the quality of your speakers are tested here. Besides the influences of Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and most of all Vangelis, Van Bogaert really has his own sound because his work is immediately recognizable. Opener ‘Dead Planet ‘ continues a bit in the style of ‘Nomads’, beautiful melodies and rich orchestration as if it were a classical symphony. So also the strong ‘The Thin Line’. But Van Bogaert dares to explore other territories as we can hear in the jazzy ‘All Has Stopped’ on which the fretless bass playing is on par with the greatest. Getting Wøllo on board shows that Van Bogaert wants to explore new territories and not get stuck in electronic music only. And this is how it should be with progressive music ! ‘Cold Steel’ with its choir arrangement just gives me goose flesh, that strong is the emotion ! Once more Frank Van Bogaert has topped whatever he has done before or the least one could say is that he easily manages to maintain the high quality level of his previous works. This is a big compliment because we all know how hard it is to stay on top. But that’s just were he stays, no doubt. Harry 'Jojo'deVries, Proglog Afterglow

Belgian composer Frank Van Bogaert’s new album is a collaboration with Norwegian guitar player Erik Wøllo. It’s also Frank’s first conceptalbum. All tracks together tell the story of a failing Air production machine, the Air Machine. This concept has also been impressively interpreted by graphic designer Michal Karcz. His coverdesign reminds us of the works of Pablo Magne or Hipgnosis. The album has 10 tracks in which Frank and Erik, besides the typical electronic elements, also use a lot elements and influences out of Progressive Rock . The latter is mostly due to the atmospheric guitar parts of Erik. With ‘Dead Planet’ the album opens very atmospheric and symphonic. One has the feeling to be standing on the edge of a vast landscape over which the wind blows. Then Frank’s monumental ‘bigger than life’ music kicks in. It works like an ouverture or a soundtrack. The song closes with only wind, leaving the listener in a somehow sad mood. Mechanical sounds open the second track ‘Air Machine’. The basic melody of this track is first played on the piano. Then the goose flesh evoking Guitarsynthesizer takes over. Besides Mark Dwane only Erik Wøllo can play this in such a sensitive way. Both piano and guitar interact in such a way that they build a real tension and the frontiers between Electronic and Rock music vanish. ‘Insomnia’, with its over eight minutes playing time the longest track of the album, is a slowly evolving, fascinating track with atmospheric guitars and very beautiful synthlines. Enchanting atmospheres and moods are created, touching the listener’s soul. ‘Hyperventilate’, which has a more rhythmic feel, is again being carried by lucious piano playing. The track evolves into a rocky one because of the drumprogramming. ‘All has Stopped’ takes us back to a slow and loungy pace whereas swirling synths and exciting rhythms in the track ‘Breathe’ make sure the power is back on. This song also has very beautiful melodylines but the special thing about it is Frank’s singing. His relaxing way of singing really fits the song and once more gives the album an unexpected turn. The percussion gives this track a slight ethnic touch. The next four tracks continu in this rich atmospheric and moodful style, ofwhich ‘The Thin Line’, with acoustic guitar, a very epic and also classical feel has. When the collaboration between Frank and Erik results in such gorgeous tracks, I can only say ‘I want more’. This album is really addictive because the melodies and harmonies are so’stay in the head’. Both have delivered a truly gorgeous album that I can only highly recommend to both fans of Electronic music and melodical Progressive rock. Stephan Schelle, Muzikzirkus Magazine, Germany