4

Two years passed after "Arc" and thirteen after their eponymous debut album. Regarding its fourth release, DIAGONAL wanted to keep it simple by introducing their last opus "4" as SOFT MACHINE and LED ZEPELLIN at their time. You don't change a winning team by taking over the same troop made up of the same six musicians. Formed in 2006, they started on stage in 2008 by hitting directly in the wood during like a seasoned and informed formation. Their music is inspired as always by the old guard, but without the dust on the shoulders, with this faculty to be able to apprehend practically all the styles and to diffuse richly appreciated compositions. Even if the structures evolve by focusing a little more on the guitars, the trends do not change and remain resolutely in a modernized psychelic of the sixties, completed by jazz / rock, post / rock space / rock accents with tints of krautrock and a hint of stoner. Some influences can be mentioned: GONG, HAWKIND, RIDE, THE SOFT MACHINE, RÖYKSOPP ... The cover is soberly illustrated and gives off a minimalist aspect, with a square in its center revealing a paradoxical optical illusion. We can all the same regret the somewhat short duration of the recording culminating at 36 minutes, the most succinct of their discography. Let's see more closely if the perfidious albion will be able to forget the new taxes collected by the postman ...

"Amon" is a tribute to the German group AMON DÜÜL II. This piece starts off strong with a slightly ramshackle guitar playing alone in stoner mode, taken up by a flamboyant sax and rhythmic as rarely heard. This introduction reminds me of a step forward with a voice that resolutely monopolizes the atmosphere and the scene, evoking a kind of intoxication traversing the great rock road which will only stop at the end of a fabulous road. trip. It's terribly catchy and jubilant, I love it! The continuation will be done by successive declinations and progressive decelerations to end on the electronic atmosphere and to extinguish, with for intermediary a bass / well cadenced drums, an omnipresent sax tuning to a voice which reminds me of that of the singer from NEKTAR, and synths galore. Licked melodies and arrangements which are in my opinion what is best done in the genre, a song which tends to become legendary! (10/10)

With "Chroma" DIAGONAL shows us his interest in jazz, this jazz which merges with modernized choirs like RÔYKSOPP on brassy and woody Latin rhythms with a Luke FOSTER who brushes his drums like a jazzman (8.5 / 10). "Spinning Array" opens with a funky rhythm section followed by syncopated vocals like RIDE, a post / rock alternative rock band. Long guitar lines, a synthetic bagpipe evoking the Scottish moors and intense and multicolored flutes will shine these monotonous but deep songs (8/10). "Stellate" is a pure space / rock product that burns through and through. With a sax which gives the fuck to a vibrating guitar trying to pass above this haughty and noisy brass. The battle hardens, the guitar regains control by dint of perseverance not to let go until the end. A bass with stoner sensations will restore the six-stringed impulse like a rocket launched into space. By rolling your eyes to the sky, you will be able to perceive a guitar consuming a thousand lights and reach the high galactic spheres (9/10).

"Totem" begins with a monotonous and repetitive five-note guitar, generated by voices without words and a sax without much presence in a dreamy and vaporous atmosphere. A change takes place at 5:00 with a small pop melody nicely interpreted and accompanied by an electric jaw harp that ignites until more thirsty to finish in total dissonance like RIDE (9/10). DIAGONAL is overflowing with new ideas and has just taken a new turn by refocusing on the guitar to be more openly inspired by the influences of space / rock or even krautrock. "4" is an enthusiastic album which transmits and transmits an irresistibly contagious energy even if there is nothing to throw away, this opus could have been the album of the year if the five tracks had been of the same size as "Amon ". This title alone is worth the purchase of the vinyl.