The Grand Sheep
Nightwatch
CD. November 2024.

CD and pictures were provided to me by The Grand Sheep.

Before I get to the "weird" music on Nightwatch, I'll first talk about the band from Aschaffenburg. First of all: I only know this album and will only listen to the first album after this review.
The Grand Sheep: Founded in 2013 in Aschaffenburg, they play prog/art rock. Nightwatch is their second album. The current line-up consists of:
Florian Rickert – Vocals/Keyboard
Andreas Bookjans – Guitar
Alexander Röckl – Bass
Christoph Bäckmann – Drums

Somehow it all seems familiar to me. Who does the voice remind me of? Who does the guitar playing remind me of? Or the weird psychedelic "prologue" with bleating sheep? And the madness where I don't know what is real and what is madness? I can't say and that's good. It's the mix that makes it.

Anyway, the sheep are watching us and they will rule us. The music is guitar-heavy prog rock, with psychedelic influences. The song "Nightwatch" is reminiscent of 70s hard rock, especially because of the keyboards. "Final Days" and track two, "In Case of Insanity" complete my highlights. The real highlight for me, however, is that I can listen to the whole album in one go, nothing throws me off.

Conclusion: To me it sounds like vintage rock. Led Zeppelin. The Doors. Vintage prog rock, like The Mission. And yet the whole thing is unique. The Grand Sheep is not innovative or new in any way. For prog heads and rock heads it is pleasantly vintage. Because the prog is straighter, rockier. There are sprinkles of psychedelic and stoner. Clean bass and guitar playing, nice drums. The vocals fit. The idea is nice and offbeat. I don't see any real weaknesses in any of the songs. Nightwatch will be playing often in my CD player, I always find something new. Thumbs up!

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.