TRIPTYQUE

As with the previous two albums, Triptyque is free for download at Chrysalides website. This got me interested. It's obvious, that as a solid part of a trilogy, this album provides no change to the style they formed earlier.

Chrysalide has in fact developed a new and personal sound, with all acoustic instruments, mostly guitar and bass, accompanied with percussion. However, with this album, they've developed it further. It's apparent, that the players are both better composers and better skilled.

The songs are not quite hollow as they were on the other two albums, and the first track, Ego, is actually quite refreshing. It's not really music one would recommmend to anyone who enjoys grand melodies and/or a rythmic beat. However, the song drives on with the rythm beating guitar and good lyrics. The solo in the end is surprising in the sense, that the band seems to be lacking the vast range of off tune notes and accidental tempo changes that were present earlier.

Of course, the folk is still there, and it seems these guys are actually really doing it by themselves from the beginning. Litanies starts with a really strange guitar and proceeds to even more strange chords. The use of percussion is apparent here too, and it really bring depth to the songs. However, the electric guitar solo in between is really off in a sense. They use their own scales, and people, who are used to mainstream/conventional theory will most probably grimace, as it will most probably sound off tune. With those, who like to experience music in all ways and are very open minded, the experience that is Triptyque is most welcome.

There's not much to say about the songs themselves. Chrysalide has a clear plan of keeping the music similar throughout the whole trilogy, and listening to their music is bound to get repetitive. It is, as if they were still singing the same song. Basically Le Temple doesn't really differ from the rest. It's got a couple of nice chord progressions and singing applied to that, but aside from the technical aspect, the music remains more or less insipid.

The cello playing of Charlotte Martin is most welcome in this case. Every now and then the listener is given a peek to what the music on this album could be at its best. The ending to Le Temple is really good. That, and the beginning fo the next song, Kali Yuga are among the best parts of the album. The 4th track seems to strike out a bit harder, and the listener gets excited; perhaps something will happen... Well something does happen. The 9 minute song goes on, and suddenly changes as if a second track had just changed. Looking at the player, it was just a pause edited in between. Listening closely to the song again, on will notice that it is still the same song.

Triptyque carries the same name as the album, and is on first listen the best song along side with the opener. There's a melodic part that begins in the middle of the song and carries on really nicely. The thing about this song is that it's still a bit too long for its own good.

What can one really say. If the album can be judged by the first song, and the rest sound exactly the same, what's there to listen to? For people, who wish to listen to the story in the lyrics this might be intriguing, but it's hard to imagine anyone listening to the album through a second time, especially when just one song does that just as well and saves a lot of time.

The next song seems a bit better, but in the end it's just because it's only 6+ minutes long. But looking at the track listing, one can get really desparate. Why must we be punished with an almost 20 minute track when all you want is to get through with what you already have?

Nearly falling asleep after Immacule the listener is woken up again by a piano intro for Absinthe. Soon, the cello joins, and the song sounds utterly refreshing. though after a while one begins to wonder: is this really the same band? There's no sign of guitar nor the acoustic bass. No singing whatsoever. It seems as this song has been ordered to bring the album up one level. At that, it's also the shortest song on the album, an instrumental, and easily the best too. A whole album of beautiful music like this would probably not be such a bad idea after all.

Debut sounds very nice and welcome, though mostly because it is the last song. The biggest problems with this folk-prog band are obvious: The music is extremely boring. It's really hollow, lacks nuances, lacks variation and lacks coherency. A lot of instrumental passages sound like they were played off tune or just badly. The issue of ever changing tempo is solved on this album, but after a long while of struggling somewhere between sleep and wake, perhaps a change of tempo at some point would have been good. The whole album is in the first song, and the rest are just something composed to make it sound longer. I wouldn't spot a difference if they'd release it as just one long song. Seriously.

The album is not good, not even close. In fact, it's only worth getting if you're a completionist, mostly because it's free. But I wouldn't recommend listening to it, because that'd sound like I liked it. One song can be worth it, but that can be picked from any of the three records. This one, I agree, is the best of the three, and for that reason would deserve better scores than the others. However... I can't give more than two stars. In fact, I can't even give that. I'm sorry, but this album, free or not is not going to stay on my playlist any longer.