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Tritonus — Tritonus
(Garden of Delights CD198, 1975/2023, CD)

Tritonus — Between the Universes
(Garden of Delights CD201, 1976/2024, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-04-20

Tritonus Cover artBetween the Universes Cover art

I guess it all started with The Nice, the idea of a trio of keyboards, bass, and drums doing a fusion of pop, rock, jazz, and classical, which then begat more groups like ELP, Ekseption, Triumvirat, and Trace, and through time, hundreds more trios featuring a hotshot keyboardist flanked by a drummer and bassist and/o guitarist, some with vocals and some without. Tritonus was one such group, from Mannheim, Germany, who got their start in the early 70s, and developed a loyal following. For their first single (1972) and their first LP (1974), the band members were keyboardist Peter Seiler, bassist and singer Ronald Brand, and drummer Charlie Jöst. While one would be remiss to consider them to be copyists of the styles of any of the aforementioned bands, the elements and fundamentals are all there, just presented in a somewhat different light, which makes them at once remarkable and certainly different. The inclusion of that first 1972 single “The Way of Spending Time” b/w “Kite” is probably as close as on will get to the ELP sound, showing Brand to be an excellent singer (on the former) and bassist, with Jöst’s powerful drums and Seiler’s multifaceted keyboard work to be nothing short of amazing. “Kite” was an instrumental, and was reworked and elongated on the first album as “Lady Turk.” Other standouts on the debut include the near-eleven minute opener “Escape and No Way Out,” a piece that goes through a number of changes along its trajectory, from light classical to heavy rock, and again showcasing Brand to be the superb singer that he is. “Far in the Sky” is another symphonic rock epic that opens the second side of the original vinyl, again going through a number of changes throughout its nine minute duration, at times highlighting the band’s jazzier and more experimental side. The gently lilting “Gliding,” awash in symphonic keys, is reflective of Brand and Jöst’s interests as glider pilots, complete with a radio traffic call from the tower, while their brief instrumental cover of “Lady Madonna” rocks nicely along.

Following the first LP, things were about to change, as they sometimes do. Jöst left the band to go back and concentrate on his studies, and after a succession of drummers, Tritonus settled on Bernhard Schuh, and with him they began work on their second album, Between the Universes. I believe Seiler had long wanted to expand the band’s sound to include a classical choir, and so with the second album it came to pass; the choir, conducted by Carl Schäuble, as well as vocalist Geff Harrison (from Twenty Sixty Six and then and King Pin Meh), offer their support on the ten minute opening title track as well as two parts of the sidelong “Suburban Day Suite” on the LP’s second side, which make this album sound like somewhat of a departure from the sound of their debut. Only on “The City Rests” (part one of the three part suite) does Brand sing without accompaniment. The second cut, “Mars Detection,” is a purely instrumental endeavor, an eight minute piece with a nice groove supplied by Brand’s bass and Schuh’s pulsing drums, throughout which Seiler exercises most of his keyboard array at various times, certainly one of the album’s best tracks. More change — following the album’s release Brand left the group amicably, to be replaced by Rolf-Dieter Schnapka on vocals and bass. No further LPs were to be released, only one excellent single “The Trojan Horse Race” b/w “Timewinds of Life” in 1977 (included here as bonus tracks). More lineup changes were afoot, until Seiler finally disbanded the group in ‘79, before moving on to more lucrative film and television soundtrack work.

Filed under: Reissues, 2023 releases, 1975 recordings, 2024 releases, 1976 recordings

Related artist(s): Tritonus

More info
http://diregarden.com/god198.html
http://diregarden.com/god201.html

 

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