ECLAT II

In 1992 singer Denis Carnevali parted ways with Eclat de vers and the same year the group came in touch with Musea for the release of the second album.Their name was now reduced to simply Eclat and the vocals were now handled by the band's leader Alain Chiarazzo.The new album was entitled ''Volume 2''.

The significant changes in the line-up and name of the group had nothing to do with the Eclat's style, which remained a passionate and dynamic Neo Prog with symphonic references.The stunning opener ''Le chemin vers les nornes'' gives a good idea of their style: Well-crafted Progressive Rock with excellent guitar moves and breaks, nice synthesizers, theatrical vocals and Classical inspirations in a couple of keyboard themes.The rest of the album contains shorter tracks with a bit more reduced keyboard interludes and more dynamic guitar plays, the instrumental textures are increased, but the inspiration is still there to offer some very nice tracks.The overall style is very close to the approach of compatriots ELIXIR.The guitar work of Chiarazzo is definitely the driving force with some fine lead parts and solos, while the keyboard passages offer delicate background themes and even some fronted solos, although their sound at moments is too plastic.But the more important profit for the group is surely Chiarazzo's great vocals, which are simply delightful with a light theatrical color in a typical French style of singing.

Another winner for this French band, great and recommended item for any fan fond of 90's Prog's resurrection.As the running time of the first two Eclat/Eclat de vers albums is less than 80 minutes, a nice package with both releases was released a few years later in a nice move by the group.