Bioscope is the outcome of a project which began back in 2020 in Berlin and in a home studio in England, with the project eventually becoming an album consisting of only five tracks, with three of which passing the twelve-minute mark and one reaching almost twenty. The emphasis on this album is on structured melodic lines, whilst staying inside the electronic ambience Tangerine Dream are renowned for, which means the album has the feel of being tightly scripted, very song-oriented, with much less of the sonic improvisation Tangerine Dream were once forerunners of.
Steve Rothery is founder member/guitarist of prog giants Marillion, who’ve been prog forerunners for forty years and whose music has helped redefine prog in the 2000s, and Thorsten Quaeschning, musical director of Tangerine Dream, from the Berlin school of cosmic electronica, whose imagination and influence has made them a seminal name in electronica, and together both men bring over sixty years of musical creativity to the table, which means Bioscope is more than just a fusion of styles between overlapping genres, it’s a ‘thoughtful dialogue’ between ‘two established musical identities’ which offers ‘a view of life through music.’ There’s little which is new on this album, but the two maestros in their respective fields have attempted to do something outside of their comfort zones, and the result is a challenging album, one which dares you to listen with open ears.
Title track ‘Gento’ is a mix of Tangerine Dream’s Phaedra alongside some gorgeous guitar work from Rothery and lush dreamlike imagery. His emotive guitar playing has always been a key feature in Marillion’s sound and he demonstrates why right across the album, whereas ‘Kinetoscope’ sounds more akin to the Tangerine Dream of 2025. The heavily proggy ‘Kaleidoscope’ is very redolent of Rush, with powerful drumming from Elbow’s Alex Reeves and great guitar work from Rothery, whose work is also well to the fore on ‘Bioscope’, another very proggy track missing only some ethereal lyrics. But, on all the pieces, there are some fascinating sonic landscapes and, on occasions, a hypnotic aura being created.
For fans of the genre, this is probably electronic prog heaven, with splendid fiery guitar from Rothery and soaring, swirling soundscapes from Thorsten. Whether this is a one-off project or likely to become something more permanent is unknown but, whatever, both men can be pleased with what they’ve put together.
