Henning Pauly - Credit where Credit is due

Fans of Frameshift will surely appreciate this opportune album. One word of caution is that this one can be a hair heavier at times. Juan Roos (lead singer from Transmission) is more than a suitable replacement for Sebastian Bach. Come to think of it; his voice is very similar in a number of places. It’s so close at times that I initially thought it might actually be him on this album. Alas, it’s not, but the good news is that Henning has not lost an once of momentum going into this project. It’s as good as “Absence of Empathy” and I really can’t say there’s anything in here that’s all that close to re-hash.

In addition to Juan, Henning uses a choir of Shawn Gordan, Matt Cash, Karen Oyler, and Christy Leschinsky in a few places. On top of that, Matt provides supplementary vocals on two more songs. Therefore, Henning has no shortage of singers to fill in the vacant spaces. Even he does some of the singing at times.

The music is original, but still it carries Henning’s special touch. For instance, the banjo is tightly integrated into the opening track, “Your Mother is a Trucker” and surfaces sometime later in “Six”. Likewise, the static and syncopated beats found all throughout the Frameshift projects, shows up in the second cut, “Cure the Breach” and close to the edge with the heresy of “©opyright Conspiracy”.

As I’ve said, he tries out new ideas along with his time-weathered tactics. In “Your Mother is a Trucker” he incorporates rap and screams side-by-side with his trusty techniques. There are several aspects of the music and many moments that remind me of Depeche Mode and New Order for some reason or another. “German Metalhead”, for example, is geared at the knocking rate of a dance club beat.

He continues to mix it up in each and every cut. While “Three” toss and turns in its sleep, “Six” clears the cobwebs from its head and ties it all together. Subsequently, the piano unravels sentiment, emotions, and repressed memories in “Seven”. By the way, no leap in logic is necessary to figure out how he came up with the names of these songs. Then again, “Scheiblautundhartwiedreck” is not only a tongue-twister, but also one of the more tumultuous tracks.

Just as he did in “Unweaving the Rainbow”, he randomly changes the radio station in “Radio Sucks”. After that, there is “Halo”, which is just an incredible all-around track. So much heart, sweat, and soul has been put into this song. Once it gets going, even the kitchen sink is sucked into this virtuoso’s vortex.

As a head’s up, we do get the pretentious power ballad at the halfway mark in “Seven”. It’s at that point where the harshness and heaviness begins to taper off. Yet, the lighter parts of this project are just as genial as the album’s earlier parts.

Keeping in synch with his previous solo effort, he intends to ambush you at the end with some hidden bonus material. Like before, it’s mainly dialogue, but to let you know, there is a catch. This time there’s several characters and the entire act is done completely in German.

While we await his next big endeavor, which is deemed to be Baby Steps, this one will give you more than enough to chew on in the meantime. To give credit where credit is due, my hat goes off to Henning for another fine effort. Don’t believe the hype! Figure it out first hand and give this album your own private screening. What you’ll come to understand is that the proof is in the Pauly.

8.5/10