photos by Toni Petraschk
Long-running underground music portal The Obelisk presents an exclusive stream of Wallensteins Garage, the infectious debut album from German progressive/krautrock outfit SEK, ahead of its release this Friday through Exile On Mainstream Records.
SEK takes its name from the initials of the members’ surnames, following the naming tradition of classic jazz ensembles. The trio consists of guitarist Paul-Willy Stoyan (Gavial, Jacke Schwarz), drummer Georg Edert (Elder, Gaffa Ghandi), and bassist Lucas Kazzer (Gaffa Ghandi, Borders Down), three musicians with long-standing roots in Berlin’s independent rock scene. Bringing together backgrounds in heavy psych, progressive rock, punk, and experimental music, they have forged a collective sound driven by improvisation, curiosity, and a shared fascination with storytelling through music. The band has been simmering beneath the surface of Berlin’s underground music scene for four years, and following two DIY cassette releases, the trio now breaks through with Wallensteins Garage, a debut that is equal parts concept album, historical meditation, and expansive psychedelic rock journey.
Wallensteins Garage was recorded and mixed by Fabien de Menou, produced by Fabien de Menou and SEK, mastered by Stefan Brueggemann at Mastering Room Berlin, with photography by Toni Petraschk and cover artwork by Benjamin Butter (Gavial) who also provides keyboards on the album, with additional keyboards on “Auftritt zu Pappenheim” by Fabien de Menou
With the record about to be released this week, the band offers, “We couldn’t be happier with how the album turned out! The songs on Wallensteins Garage had plenty of time to take shape in the rehearsal room and to evolve on stage into what they are now on the record. The complex blend of historical facts and fictional narrative has, through the process of writing the album and exploring the depth of the material, evolved into a coherent whole.
“We are very pleased that listeners are interested in the historical background, because by engaging with history, we can all learn to avoid the mistakes of the past and work on the problems of today! The release tour was also a huge success for us and proved once again that there is interest in instrumental psychedelic-kraut-prog-rock music with a complex and somehow weird concept!
“We’re looking forward to performing the whole record in the future with another club tour in Germany already planned for Spring 2027, and a few festival offers will likely come to fruition. Hopefully we’ll have more to share soon! We’re also already working on material for the next album, and the concept is already clearly defined: this time, we’ll be exploring a folk tale from our guitarist’s hometown. But we’ll keep the details secret for the moment, stay tuned!”
The Obelisk writes in part alongside their advance stream of the album, “Already, SEK are dynamic, purposeful and multifaceted, and as much as Wallensteins Garage may be a thematic work about regret or at very least looking back on the choices one makes in the course of a life, there’s more outreach than navelgazing in the material itself… what the wordless semi-narrative here really represents is the drive toward individuality from SEK. This is their first offering, they’ve made it a priority to distinguish themselves from the outset, and the whole image of Wallenstein with his dead horse — as depicted brilliantly on the Benjamin Butter cover art — is a vehicle through which they’re doing that, along, of course with the music itself. I already can’t wait to find out where they go next.”
Listen to SEK’s entire Wallensteins Garage early only through The Obelisk RIGHT HERE.
Exile On Mainstream will release Wallensteins Garage on black vinyl bundled with a CD and digitally this October 30th. Preorders can be placed at the label webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE, and digital presaves are found HERE. Watch the videos for “Die Schlacht bei Lützen” HERE and “Amore Mio” HERE.
https://www.instagram.com/stoyanedertkazzer
https://www.facebook.com/Stoyanedertkazzer
https://stoyanedertkazzer.bandcamp.com
https://www.mainstreamrecords.de
https://www.youtube.com/@exileonmainstream3639
https://www.instagram.com/exileonmainstream_official
The post SEK: The Obelisk Hosts Exclusive Stream Of Wallensteins Garage, The Debut From Berlin Prog/Krautrock Trio With Elder, Gavial, Gaffa Ghandi Members; LP Out Friday Via Exile On Mainstream Records first appeared on Earsplit Compound.