A PROGRESSIVE-ROCK STUDIO-PROJECT

THE PROJECT

We band members of WithoutUs used to play together in a progressive rock band for many years. After some musicians had left the band, the rest of us decided to continue with a new project. It was clear that we wanted to remain true to the genre.

The idea of starting this as a studio project was born very quickly. The temporal and spatial independence in songwriting and recording allowed relaxed working conditions. My own recording studio, where I had been composing instrumental production music under the label of MUSICLOOPS for several years, made the idea for the studio project perfect.

In the meantime, also other musicians are working on the songs Since each of them contributes his personal character to the project, a great variety of sounds has been created.

THE HEAD

Katrin Oehlbach

Katrin Oehlbach

Vocals
Sunshine

Claus-Peter Fuhrmann

Claus-Peter Fuhrmann

Keyboards - Lyrics
Arrangement -  Composing Producer

Andreas Vöhringer

Andreas Vöhringer

Bass - Lyrics - Arrangement  Composing

THE CREW

JOCHEN
DUBIEL

DRUMS

Christian Mund

 

GUITARs

RAINER
DIETZ

SAXOPHONE

MARCUS
DÖRR

VOCALS

Joachim Habernoll

 

DRUMS

Media

Discography

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Second Raise

 

Second Raise

Disease

Sentimental

Time Signs

Unspoken

Heretic

Never Enough

One Second

 

New Album-Reviews - Second Raise

In 2021, the German studio project Without Us surprised everyone with their excellent debut album ‘Aberrations’. Claus Peter Fuhrmann (keyboards) and Andreas Vöhringer (bass), who were responsible for the lyrics and compositions, as well as singer Katrin Oehlbach are behind the band. The songs on the debut were characterised by wonderful melody lines and solos. Katrin also added a touch of jazz and pop with her haunting vocals. The follow-up entitled ‘Second Raise’ was released on 04.04.2025.

The album is released on CD in a four-page digipak with an eight-page booklet. The core team has remained and numerous guest musicians have once again been recruited for the project.

The album begins with an almost anthemic, one-minute intro entitled ‘Second Raise’. This leads directly into the first song ‘Disease’. It starts with quite funky sounds, but has much more to offer. This becomes apparent as soon as the funky guitar rhythm together with the keyboards soars to atmospheric heights and is underpinned by powerful percussion. This is now marvellously melodic prog/art rock. After a few moments, Katrin’s haunting vocals kick in, clearly setting her apart from other female prog singers. The result is a driving song with several tempo changes.

The piano intro to the next song ‘Sentimental’ has a slight jazz flavour. But here, too, the musical style quickly changes to a melancholic, warm mood. The marvellous guitar passage, which combines with the keyboards while Katrin sings softly, is very pleasing here. In contrast to Katrin’s vocals, Marcus Dörr then adds a powerful voice.

‚Time Signs’ is another instrumental track that is very melodic and rocky. Marek Arnold has refined this piece with a saxophone solo, which gives the piece a special flair. A very varied piece.

‚Unspoken‘ is a wonderful, melodic ballad. Choirs then open the track ‘Heretic’, which transforms into a rocking prog song after a few moments with a striking bass and powerful guitars and drums. This is then mainly sung by Marcus Dörr. There are several time changes and somewhat tricky passages in the piece, which underline its prog status.

After this somewhat more complex piece, ‘Never Enough’ continues very atmospherically with marvellous keyboard pads. As soon as Katrin starts singing, however, things pick up a bit. The middle section is again very atmospheric and features great keyboard sounds. Katrin adapts her vocals here, which now also drift atmospherically through the ether.

The album ends with the eleven-minute ‘One Second’. Even the instrumental beginning gives you goosebumps. Then it becomes a little quieter and more solemn. Rainer Dietz uses his saxophone perfectly here. And Katrin’s voice gets under your skin in this track. The band has saved the best for last, because this song has everything a fan’s heart desires.

‘Second Raise’ is a very good follow-up to Without Us’ already impressive debut album. The album is characterised above all by the mixture of prog with jazz and pop elements, interspersed with wonderful melodies.

Stephan Schelle, May 2025

Anyone familiar with the first album by “Without Us” (“Aberrations” ) has been waiting ever since for a new release by the project led by composer and keyboardist Claus Peter Fuhrmann. With “Second raise” the time has finally come. The fanfare-like opener “Second Raise” raises hopes and indeed, the listener is not disappointed with the following tracks. As with the first album, the listener experiences a journey through different musical genres. Nevertheless, the tracks retain their typical prog rock character, very skillfully and creatively combined tempo changes, great harmonies and very good vocals from Katrin Oehlbach. But not only the female voice can be heard on the production, but also an outstanding Marcus Dörr, who is the duet partner on some tracks, for example on “Heretic”. Compared to the first album, there is more guitar on “Second Raise”, played by Christian Mund and Mick Kessler as a guest on “Sentimental”. For fans of instrumental music, the track “Time Signs” is highly recommended. Marek Arnold makes an improvised appearance here as a guest musician (Artrock Projekt, SSTTGD, Cyril), giving the track its own unique timbre. Rainer Dietz plays all the other saxophone parts. I’m deliberately leaving out the usual comparisons with related music here, because I see “Without Us” as a work of art in its own right. Finally, the 10:59 track “One Second” is well worth listening to. 

(Ingolf Preiß, Progspezial bei Wartburgradio 96,5 )

Rock Magazine eclipsed edition June 2025 No. 271

Without Us “Second Raise”

7 out of 10 stars
Similar to: Renaissance, Anyones Daughter, Genesis, Mostly Autumn

 

Keyboardist Claus-Peter Fuhrmann and bassist Andreas Vöhringer, long-time colleagues in a prog combo, were no longer interested in a rigid band structure. So they started a studio project to be able to work more freely musically. With singer Katrin Oehlbach, the line-up was complete.

Four years after their formation, the Palatinate trio released their debut album “Aberrations” in 2021 (eclipsed reported).

After another four decades, the second album is now available.

While Fuhrmann relied almost exclusively on keyboards as the dominant instruments on his debut album, the short opener and title track, which is carried by wind instruments, is immediately followed by an electric guitar in the subsequent “Disease”.

This expansion of the sound spectrum suits the trio well.

This becomes even clearer in “Sentimental”, which once again emphasizes the project’s own melodic style with Oehlbach’s vocals. They show that they can also deliver laid-back piano songs with “Unspoken”. And things get rocky in the rhythmically tricky “Heretic”. The last two tracks, which together last 20 minutes, have more prog potential.
A successful second album with new facets.

Top track: Sentimental

-> to the Magazine

Fanfare music and off we go with the song ‘Disease’ from the second album ‘Second Raise’ by WITHOUT US, a studio project led by keyboardist Claus-Peter Fuhrmann, singer Katrin Oehlbach and bassist Andreas Vöhringer, who composed and wrote the album’s eight songs.

The trio has invited an illustrious group of guest musicians to give the songs the right polish. And so it starts off relaxed with a touch of STEELY DAN meets TOTO & SUPERTRAMP, and lots of melody, whether sung or played alternately on guitar and keyboard. The majority of the other songs are also rather relaxed in terms of their structure, emphasising plenty of space for varied development (only one song on the album is shorter than six minutes) and exuding slightly folky musical vibes, which are mainly due to Katrin Oehlbach’s vocals.

Musically, the prog-rock flavour clearly dominates with many rhythm, structure and beat changes. A prime example is ‘One Second’, in which different parts of the song are skilfully interwoven over eleven minutes, with vocals, saxophone, piano and guitar repeatedly passing the ball around and interlocking beautifully.

With ‘Never Enough’, things get rockier, but this pushes Oehlbach’s voice to its limits. In quieter numbers like ‘Unspoken’ or poppy songs like ‘Never Enough’, the singer obviously feels much more comfortable and can fully utilise her vocal range here. The vocals of guest singer Marcus Dörr provide nice contrasts, as in ‘Heretic’, in which the alternation of the two voices gives the number a nice arc of tension. The instrumental track ‘Time Signs’, on the other hand, lives up to its name and musically pays homage to the greats of prog rock, reminiscent of early GENESIS with its multi-layered keyboard sounds and featuring a wonderfully relaxed, jazzy saxophone solo in the middle section.

CONCLUSION: With ‘Second Raise’, the studio project WITHOUT US presents a solid second album with a strong prog rock flavour. It is multi-layered and varied and is rich in musical variety, exciting arrangements and beautiful, virtuoso solos. Katrin Oehlbach’s voice, which often breathes a dreamy, folky mood into the songs, can unfold especially when the music is more relaxed.

Marco Rauland (Info) (Review read 445x, published on 02.06.2025)

Rating: 11 out of 15 points
Aberrations - Das neue Album

Aberrations

Reminiszenz

Your Secret

Aberrations

Daydream

Real Truth

Little Black Spider

Strange Journey

Hidden Signs

Laura (Acoustic RMX)

Without Me

LINKS

IMPRESSUM/ cONTAcT

Impressum

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Gartenstraße 3
D-67482 Freimersheim
Tel.: 0049 (0) 171/3879081
E-Mail: team@musicloops.de
www.musicloops.de

Contact

WithoutUs
C/o Claus-Peter Fuhrmann
E-Mail: contact@withoutus.de

Webdesign: Melanie Auer

Home: Photo (roadway-during-golden-hour) by Marcos Miranda

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