German art/prog rock band RPWL will release their new album, Wanted, in North America on April 1st via Gentle Art of Music/E1. The album's title track is streaming below:

'Wanted':

RPWL was recently confronted with a rather difficult question: how do you follow up a both epic as well as celebrated album as was the Nietzsche-themed Beyond Man And Time? Here's the answer: you tackle the really, really huge topic on your new record Wanted - the ultimate liberation of the spirit.

But... how does an idea like that spring to the minds of an art rock band in the first place?

RPWL tell of the hero of two worlds, Giuseppe Garibaldi who, being a tremendous admirer of the Greek antiquity became aware of a scroll of Plato's in which he analyzes the work of Hippocrates. It can be read in Garibaldi's diaries that Hippocrates had in fact found the formula for a medicine that leads the spirit into a real and absolute world, free of all illusion and invisible ghost worlds. The question, however, that inevitable arises at that point is the following: is the human race ready for what Plato called the "gift of absolute freedom?"

It lies in the artistic fearlessness of RPWL that the band is not afraid of transferring that complex question to the world of today: is modern man, being the evolutionary creature that he is, ready for absolute freedom? To explore that, these Bavarians have established a back-story full of fantasy. In it RPWL and their friends aim at granting the world access to the product of the secret formula - disguised as a homeopathic drug against mental fatigue that goes by the name of "Veritas Forte." Considering the true intention of the operation the fact that the wrath of the churches of the world religions is unleashed at the band rather sooner than later is understood. And so, consequently, they are forced to go underground. That, however, is where RPWL continues to organize ultimate liberation from all oppression through the machineries of illusion run by religions and sects. RPWL are Wanted.

The action of Wanted starts several days before the great day: Plato's Day. The enemy's fear is ever growing, as, after all nobody knows at what point the mirages and illusions are eradicated from people's minds once and for all. In the course of the record RPWL shift through ten varied songs full of breathtaking soundscapes and tell a compelling story of courage, doubt, bravery, the unconditional desire to never give in and, ultimately, the belief in what is right.

By making a philosophy that is new and to a degree unique the subject of the concept of Wanted, RPWL bring the principle of the concept album to a new level. That is how this gigantic piece of art evolves into a true explosion of creativity. Furthermore the intellectual firepower of the content is in every way matched by the artistic and emotional depth of the music. More than ever a sharp artistic edge and the hunger for discovery is what drives this record forward. Despite more than fifteen years in the scene, Yogi Lang (vocals, keyboard), Kalle Wallner (guitar), Marc Turiaux (drums), Markus Jehle (keyboard, piano) and Werner Taus (bass) brilliantly avoid playing it safe.

The masterpiece that is Wanted will also be released as double vinyl as well as a limited edition in additional 5.1-surround-sound. Yes, Wanted is a gamble - and boy does that gamble pay off.

Wanted tracklisting:

'Revelation'

'Swords And Guns'

'A Short Cut Line'

'Wanted'

'Hide And Seek'

'Disbelief'

'Misguided Thought'

'Perfect Day'

'The Attack'

'A New Dawn'

Teaser trailer: