STAND BY

I saw this band mentioned glowingly on the Zeuhl thread on this site, but when I saw they were Progressive Electronic I didn't bother to check them out. What an idiot I am ! This was love at first listen. I enjoyed Richard's guitar work on a 20 minute epic on Jannick Top's solo album. That is what prompted me to finally check HELDON out. There is a definite connection between this band and MAGMA as both Patrick Gauthier and Klaus Blasqiuz take part on this record.

There aren't enough adjectives for me to describe how much I love the title track. I got so excited the first time I heard it, and will go out on a limb by saying it's the best song i've heard in months. And that is saying something. About a minute into it you get this almost doom-like soundscape, as heavy bass and drums create both thunder and darkness at the same time. At this point i'm taking back all the bad things i've said about this genre. Haha. And i'm turning it up really loud. About 5 minutes in the doom-like melody stops as the tempo picks up. We are still getting heavy bass and drums, just faster and not as heavy. This is great ! Some incredible sounding drum work 6 1/2 minutes in as it signals another change as we get some electronics for the first time. Check out the blistering guitar that joins in with the electronics. Nice. 9 minutes in we get a good head banging melody. The heaviness is back 11 minutes in as it slows down. Check out the drumming.

"Une Drole De Journee" is a Gauthier composition. This is more in the TANGERINE DREAM style with a twist. The twist being the vocal melodies from Blasquiz. "Bolero" is a side long suite at over 21 minutes. It opens with spacey sounds and drums, before different sounds come and go, and then marching style drums come in. An electronica melody arrives before 4 minutes. The synths are shooting around. This melody ends 9 1/2 minutes in as a new one starts up. The excellent guitar of Pinhas grinds out some melodies 11 minutes in. This is a treat ! Percussion is followed by some ripping guitar 16 minutes in. This is such a cool album the way they have balanced the guitar and electronic styles. This is more witnessed on the final track, as overall the guitar wins out, which is partly why I like this album so much.

I can't recommend this album enough. 4 .5 stars.