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Review:
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This French band were formed in 1998 and were for a
time serious contenders in the gothic metal firmament with
the likes of Within Temptation, The Gathering and Epica,
releasing the highly acclaimed album Verse in 2001, but
then after the EP Forecast in 2003 they vanished except
for singer Adeline Gurtner who sang with the black metal
outfit Akroma for a while. Now they are back with a new
album, a new style and a string quartet. They have taken
their love of nu prog and augmented it with their original
gothic metal sound and then added some 70's classic prog
and 80's new prog to create something totally original,
a mix of Renaissance, Camel, Kansas, The Reasoning and The
Gathering is the closest I can get without overcomplicating
the matter, I could come up with a list a mile long and
still not hit the nail on the head, they are akin to so
many but totally distinctive. The result is a work of harmonious
contrasts, after all they say that opposites attract, a
jazzy liveliness but with a melancholy gothic underbelly;
delicate subtlety and driving power; catchy and melodic
but with technical musicianship; adventurous, fascinating
and absorbing but oh so easy to listen to; acoustic and
electronic instrumentation; simplicity and sophistication;
light and dark.***
Adaline with her pure clear voice does an incredible
job giving them a touch of the Corrs, she deals perfectly
with diminished, augmented and 7ths that would destroy a
lesser singer, and the performances from the lads are exemplary,
especially Matt Baker's fluid guitar leads, Luc Babut's
Jon Camp esque bass work and Romain Fayet's's skilled drumming,
all with impeccable production and sound. The string quartet
and Philippe Chauvire's flute are an integral part of the
sound and not just bolted on as an afterthought. There is
a lot of imagination gone into the songs, for example some
lovely poetry readings by Tom O'Bedlam (whose readings have
had nearly four million hits on Youtube) and the use of
some unusual instruments like Indian percussion. Although
made up of 15 individual songs, this is an album that is
best listened to as a complete homogeneous whole which allows
all their facets to shine through, so I'm not going to pick
out songs, just enjoy the complete experience. ***
They have obviously spend the intervening years honing
their craft. This is an album than will appeal to lovers
of prog and gothic rock and metal alike, or anyone that
enjoys high quality music, and it can be bought from their
Bandcamp at http://akin69.bandcamp.com/
. I certainly hope that is not the way things end and this
album sees them enjoying the success they deserve, a highly
recommended 9 out of 10.
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