THE SAGARMATHA DILEMMA

For the second album of his project Stephane Desbiens secured a more stable line-up with Mathieu Gosselin on bass and Jean Gosselin on drums.''The Sagarmatha dilemma'' deals with the Himalayian experience and features the lyrics of the band's producer Francis Foy.It was released in 2008 on Ozeta with yet another impressive list of guest musicians such as Stu Nicholson from Galahad on vocals, Echolyn's Brett Kull on guitar solo, Derek Sherinian on keyboards and John Green of Singularity on vocals and guitar.

This was another versatile offering by The D Project, swirling around vintage symphonic keyboards, edgy and technical guitar work, emotional electric solos and great vocals, expressed both via sensitive and more powerful chords.There is some nice, personal refining on the music of the old Prog giants, they sound at moments like symphonic PINK FLOYD or modern KING CRIMSON with dashes of Mellotron over electrified atmospheres, but their music is extremely fresh and rewarding.They kind of remind me of British act ALSO EDEN or even post-2000 GALAHAD, basing their style on long arrangements full of elaborare melodies, sudden changes in climates and more upbeat tunes, where the retro aura is often covering the modern technology.The first half of the album is more 70's-inspired, Mellotrons come and go, organ is apparent, the music is full of electroacoustic shifts and the intense atmosphere of the music of PINK FLOYD is welcome.Extended pieces with instrumental variety and some great ideas.Second half appears to be a bit more modern-sounding with rougher vocals and harder electric guitars in polished but more straight songs, featuring though technical instrumental lines and a light dose of vintage keyboards over the mascular synths, where PINK FLOYD are still the prime mover and echoes of YES, KANSAS and MARILLION are also in the background.

Great album.A nice collection of concept-linked pieces with imaginative, rich and extremely atmospheric musicianship, which doesn't lack virtuosic and complex ideas.Highly recommened.