APRÈS LA CHUTE

Chrysalide’s first album suffers from some of the things that make its second album a bit tepid at times, but these traits are more apparent here. I suppose the band reflected on this album some and made obvious improvements in the one that followed it, but here the lack of instrumental range is a bit too noticeable to ignore. The lack of drums means that the incessantly strumming acoustic guitar and non- descript bass keep most of the tracks from being of much interest musically. Like their other album I have a tough time distinguishing this from post-rock, especially when the electric guitar half-hearted drones take over. There’s a bit of cello spattered around, but there is no real sense of purpose to it.

The overall point of the record seems to be to provide the setting for a three-record historical anthology of sorts that the band is fashioning their releases into. The middle part of the trilogy is still under development so it will be interesting to see if the whole body of work gels somehow into something comprehensive when that one is released.

Here again the theme of the music is lost on all but French-speaking listeners, but from the song titles its clear at least some of the tracks have biblical or vaguely religious overtones. There are more vocals here than the band’s other album, and while on the one hand this helps mask the instrumental sparseness it also further separates the premise of the lyrics from non-native speaking listeners.

There really aren’t any standout tracks here, and frankly I can’t say this is much more than a two star effort. There’s nothing about the music that is bad, just nothing worth going out of your way to spend time absorbing either. Of the band’s two available albums I would recommend ‘La Chute’ for those who want to give the band a try (and you can do so without much cost except your time since both albums can be downloaded right from the band’s web site). This one is probably for fans only.

peace

prog-folk singer/songwriters

Strange, weird and wonderful bands always just seem to fall out of the woodworks. Chrysalide is a fairly new band on the scene, at this point in time they've released a trio of albums that seem to follow a trilogy thanks to their naming conventions and cover art. All of the albums are available for free from the band's website, and everything seems to be very proggy. Cool cover art, long songs and multi-part songs/suites. On this first album the band gets to show their stuff for the first time, and it's very enjoyable. Basically we have one dude on the guitar one dude on the bass, tambourine and vocals. It boils down to very simplistic and calm music with the guitar going non-stop and the vocals over top of it.

The music is very enjoyable, and is certainly something to zone out to. For those of us who don't speak French (the language everything is in on this album) the album takes on a quality that is partly interesting since the concept is way over our heads being that it's in a different language, but it also partly helps make the music very drone-y since the vocals tend to meld together with the guitars throughout the album. The music itself does become very samey - it's hard to tell one song apart from another at times with that acoustic guitar going non-stop, even if there are some very beautiful melodies at parts. Most of the songs have lyrics and some of them are simply instrumentals, melodies are recycled at points through the album, likely due to it having a thru concept, and it's welcome every once in a while to remind you that the album hasn't sounded the same all the way through.

There really isn't much else to say about the album. It's sort of dark and entertainingly moody - the guitars give off a very dark feel at times, and at the same time kind of like you're being told a story in the wood. It also helps that they're prog folk in that aspect.

A good album that shows promise for the band. Since it's free I recommend you check it out anyways. It won't blow your mind, but it will certainly keep you zoned out for a little over an hour. Being that prog has always been a genre that is, by nature, way over the top it's likely natural that proggers would want a little more substance behind an album. Simplicity is good, but over simplicity is something that might not fare well in this particular genre. These guys do have a solid base to build off of for their next couple of albums, which I look forward to hearing. 2.5 stars, check them out - but particularly if you're not expecting something way over the top. A good effort with room to grow.

CHRYSALIDE (what a fantastic name for a band!!!) come from France and Apres La Chute is their first release. Like most people, I have discovered their music online, through their personal website. All three of their albums are free for download at the time these lines are written. The term 'prog folk' possibly represents their sound better than any other prog genre. Like in all their albums the music is dominated by acoustic guitars and melodic vocals. Although in French (I clearly don't understand a word!!!), the vocals are sung in a charming way including both male and female voices.

To my ears there is something straightforward with this release: there is NOTHING bad with the music, the guitars, the production (although the latter could be improved) and at the same time there is NOTHING great with this album. From the beginning to the end, the record flows in a standard motif, while the absence of various instruments does not assist in giving a different 'spice' to the sound, save for some cello intervals. On the other hand, there are some impressingly beautiful melodies at specific points but they are blended together with the rest - when you have finished listening there is not much left that would make you spin the album again and again; apart from curiosity of the strange melodies and the dark moods.

It also seemed to me that 59 minutes is a bit too long - it makes the album sound even more indifferent, adding to the monotony created by the constant acoustic guitars/vocals approach. To some, however, the long compositions with dark intervals might make the record sound more progressive. I could not possibly pick out any highlights as this sounds like a continuous story with similar tempos. One thing I really enjoyed is the dark French vocals and maybe this proves appealing to the non-speakers. To be fair, this is not a bad release, but there is a lot of room for improvement - also something tells me that it will mostly appeal to fans with specific tastes in prog.

The French duo of Geoffroy Vincens and Jacques Malinvard recorded an austere, enigmatic trilogy of albums between 2004 and 2008, each of them self-released (via complimentary download from their web site), and all three close to identical in technique and presentation. So it only makes sense to follow their good example by providing three likewise near-identical reviews: read any one at random, and you'll get the gist of all three albums.

The hermetic style of the trilogy is an acquired taste, to say the least, even to ears drawn by habit toward challenging music. On paper it doesn't look to be so difficult: the instrumentation is disarmingly basic (acoustic guitar, modest bass lines, the occasional cello and/or tambourine, some monophonic vocals). And the compositions are even simpler, at times resembling the liturgical plainsong heard in some cloistered medieval abbey.

But these guys approach the art of making music like penitent monks wearing hairshirts, with every limited chord change punishable by self-excoriation. Heard individually, each song has its own spellbinding charm and mystery. But listening to one entire album, or all three together (not recommended), can be a heavy cross to bear (borrowing a thematic image from the music itself).

I have to admire the band's uncompromising aesthetics. Another, astute Prog Collaborator here compared their style to Post Rock, which makes a lot of sense: the music is almost radical in its minimalism. The most recent album in the sequence, "Triptyque" (actually the second in the narrative trilogy) is probably the most accomplished and varied, but these are relative distinctions at best.

The concept too is equally obscure. There's some attractive, monochromatic Christian symbolism in the artwork and song titles, but the overall mood is more spiritual than overtly religious, and happily muted by the language barrier (a stray thought: if only NEIL MORSE could show equal restraint in his sledgehammer Prog Rock proselytizing). Nevertheless, there's no reason why, with a little editing, the entire trilogy couldn't have been presented on a single CD (or addressed in a single review, like here).

To date the music of Chrysalide has attracted only a handful of intrepid Prog Archive reviewers (mine is the first contribution in well over a year). The free downloads are a welcome act of Christian charity, but the band probably didn't have much choice: these albums would be a hard sell in any marketplace, cyber or otherwise.