Letzte Instanz (Last Instant) are a German band noted for the fact they use a range of instrumentation more likely to be found in the more adventurous prog rock bands, instruments such as violin and cello. Newer prog bands like Russia’s I Am The Morning make good usage of these. Although Letzte Instanz has its roots in metal, their music is accessible, well played and with a diverse range of sounds to choose from. They offer the listener something a little more varied than just the traditional fare. It’s even said they sound unique in places because this is not the sound of a conventional rock band. Despite their claim to be a metal band though, the music of Letzte Instanz transgresses genres and is a combination of several styles. This album sees the band occupying safe ground in the middle.
The word Morgenland means Morning Land, and band main man Holly Loose says “for us Europeans, it’s the place where the sun rises in the east and the new day begins peacefully. The other meaning is the land of tomorrow”.
One of the more interesting things about this album is, if you buy the Digipak version, you’ll come across the track ‘Children’, which sees a collaboration between Letzte Instanz and Israel’s Orphaned Land, a band known for their commitment to peace and the rights of everyone to live in peace. Both bands espouse an internationalist outlook. Of the track, ‘Mein Land’, Band main man Holly loose says “my country is a lament, an outcry, an urgent appeal, not a patriotic anthem to the homeland”. He goes on to say “we especially stand for community, love and hope. This is the creed which sprays our new album”.
Whether this is the case or not is difficult to ascertain because virtually the whole album is sung in German, and I know nothing of the language apart from Jurgen Klinsmann and Bayern Munich, but the musicianship is good and the arrangements are tight. However, for a band with its roots in metal, many of the tracks on this album are very commercially oriented, with few real incursions into rock, and the album suffers from being neither one thing or another.
