RPWL are one of the most respected names in modern German progressive rock — a Bavarian band who began in the shadow of Pink Floyd and grew into ambitious, distinctive storytellers in their own right. Melodic, atmospheric and richly emotional, their music pairs the spacious, Floyd-influenced grandeur of their roots with a love of big ideas, from philosophy to science fiction to true crime. Across two decades, they have become one of the genre’s most reliable and rewarding acts.

The short version

Formed in Freising, Bavaria, RPWL play melodic, Floyd-influenced German modern prog — spacious, atmospheric, emotionally rich music shaped by the legacy of Pink Floyd but increasingly their own. Beginning as a Pink Floyd tribute act and releasing their debut “God Has Failed” in 2000, they have issued eight studio albums through to “Crime Scene” (2023), many of them concept records. Led by Yogi Lang and Kalle Wallner, they are among the finest modern prog bands Germany has produced.

Freising: from Pink Floyd covers to RPWL

RPWL came together in the late 1990s in Freising, near Munich, when keyboardist and singer Yogi Lang reunited with guitarist Kalle Wallner — former bandmates from the early-90s group Violet District — to play live again, jamming over old Pink Floyd songs with friends. The band even took its name from the initials of its four founders’ surnames: Rissettio, Postl, Wallner and Lang. They soon began writing their own material, and their 2000 debut “God Has Failed” made an immediate impact, landing in the year-end top threes of major prog magazines.

Melodic and Floyd-influenced

RPWL’s music wears its Pink Floyd influence proudly — in Kalle Wallner’s soaring, “Floydesque” guitar, the spacious, three-dimensional soundscapes and the unhurried, atmospheric grandeur. Around Yogi Lang’s warm vocals and keyboards, they build melodic, emotional, often philosophical music that the band themselves prefer to call “neo-art rock”. Many of their albums are concept records, telling thoughtful, ambitious stories, and over the years they have folded in everything from electronic experiments to hard-rock muscle. Atmospheric, melodic and quietly intelligent, theirs is progressive rock in the grand, spacious tradition.

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From God Has Failed to Crime Scene

RPWL’s eight albums chart a steady, ambitious journey. The acclaimed debut “God Has Failed” (2000) and “Trying to Kiss the Sun” (2002) saw them developing their own voice, while “World Through My Eyes” (2005) and the eclectic “9” broadened their palette. From 2012 they embraced the concept album wholeheartedly: “Beyond Man and Time” (2012), loosely based on Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, was followed by the story-driven “Wanted” (2014), the science-fiction-themed “Tales from Outer Space” (2019) and the true-crime concept “Crime Scene” (2023).

Album by album

Eight albums of melodic, atmospheric, Floyd-influenced prog. Tap any title for its guide.

The players

RPWL have always been anchored by two men: singer and keyboardist Yogi Lang and guitarist Kalle Wallner, the band’s co-founders and creative core. Around them the line-up has evolved over the years, with long-serving contributions from keyboardist Markus Jehle and drummer Marc Turiaux, and founding bassist Chris Postl a key part of the early era. Both Lang and Wallner have pursued music outside the band — Wallner with his project Blind Ego, Lang as a solo artist — but it is their partnership that has kept RPWL at the heart of German prog for over two decades.

Where to start

Begin with “Beyond Man and Time” (2012), RPWL’s ambitious Nietzsche-inspired concept album and one of their most acclaimed works. From there, the science-fiction-themed “Tales from Outer Space” (2019) is among their most beloved, while “World Through My Eyes” (2005) shows their earlier, Floyd-steeped sound at its best. Three albums that capture one of modern German prog’s finest bands.

Why they still matter

RPWL matter as a band who turned a love of Pink Floyd into something genuinely their own — carrying the spacious, melodic, atmospheric tradition of classic prog into the modern era, and pairing it with a rare appetite for big ideas. Across eight albums of thoughtful, story-driven music, they have become one of Germany’s most respected progressive rock acts, admired for both their craft and their ambition. For anyone who wants their progressive rock melodic, atmospheric and intelligent, RPWL are essential listening.

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