Smart, though-provoking and very talented. This sums up this Prog-Metal band from Hamburg Germany. Of course, you can say that about a lot of the prog-metal bands today, so what makes this band different? First of all, they have a female vocalist, Melanie Bock, who's snearing strong vocal prowess gives the bands dimensions a lot of bands don't have. She actually reminds me a bit of Metal Queen Doro, who of course is also from Germany.

I also appreciate the fact that almost every song is differnent, sometimes prog bands get caught up in a rut of time-changes and actually become monotonous. Other prog bands get caught up on showing of their range or how fast they can play, Step Into Liquid has songs that form a groove and a feel without becoming too over-the-top. In fact the songs are still quite accessible and kept around and under the four minute mark. Maybe this isn't the nature of a true prog-band, but there's no doubt in my mind that the Prog fans will eat this record up. There's a lot going on in the background of many of these songs, I've listened a few times now and I still hear new elements.

Now, I must be fair and give my opinions on what could be done differently. I thoght there could be more backing vocal support for some songs. I like what they did on "Smart Intentions" with the gang vocals, but I didn't hear them on other tracks to me that really added to the songs. I also felt some of the vocals on the slower songs were a bit waterred down and could have a little stronger, Bock tended to sing more "airy" at times and I know she has a stronger voice than that. "Hurts Too Bad" was probably the most noticeable song where I heard this.

Overall, the production and mix was superb, if I had to come up with something I would have liked a bit more punch to some of the songs, but again, this is a minor issue. I think the quality and packaging of this release was very professional, better than stuff I've seen from the big record labels. I have no doubts this band will continue to evolve and improve, I'm looking forward to hearing their progress.

Melanie Bock - vocals
Stefan Speidel - git
Oliver Raddatz - git
Christian Wulff - bass