DREAMLAND

This debut effort by French outfit Eidolon shows a lot of promise, but does contain many elements that ultimately will limit it's appeal - to the extent of being describable as flaws.

The segments that does work very well are the instrumental passages containing either organ or keys underscored by a melodic and often insistent bassline; at times with violin layers on top and at other times more subdued with spoken voice reciting poetry as the main element underscored by the music.

These passages, although pretty similar to Eloy in general and that band's sound on Ocean in particular, are both intriguing and interesting - and fans of that band and that album should find these passages highly enjoyable, as well as those who like their mid to late 70's Pink Floyd.

But the stretched out ambient passages, as well as their experiments with heavy riff-based guitar dominated sequences, fails to inspire me - instead coming across as bothersome. Another weakness are the themes with regular vocals - at least for my taste way too accented and too flat.

It all adds up to an uneven album as far as I'm concerned, where the most interesting parts are the ones taking on a symphonic variety of space rock or vice versa. Those parts are at times brilliant though, and may be reason enough to warrant buying this venture for fans of this type of music.

Dreamland is a debut by French band Eidôlon. It is somewhat limited in the symphonic rock department (only delivering this genre of music on a few tracks); instead, it lays out spacey, atmospheric passages peppered with narration, interspersed with indie-rock songs. While not a bad album, it does not satisfy consistently (the introduction to the epic is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, however). The vocals are immature-sounding in terms of production (it's a bit like listening to a good garage band).

"Part One - Vacuum: Une Extrême Et Vague Thulé" Following several minutes of atmospheric washes of sound (and some narration in the beginning), a lone bass emerges from the noise. The song proper involves an electric guitar riff similar to that of Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want to Be."

"Part Two - Idein: La Neige Des Lis Inclin" Stunning violin pours forth a bittersweet melody that whisks me away to some other world, if only temporarily. A gentle electric guitar follows. Once the rest of the band enters- organ, drums, and bass- the melodies flow like a precious wine. A Pink Floyd-like bass riff assumes command, bringing in a barrage of noise. The narration returns, narration which is rather similar to that on Rick Wakeman's live album Journey to the Centre of the Earth. It becomes decidedly minimalistic, using what seems to be a single synthesizer for quite some time, the only variation being a quaking effect.

"Part Three - Topos: Par Les Montagnes" A grungy bass and a straightforward beat is joined by organ and a deep voice.

"Part Four - Reflexum: Les Réminiscences Drapées Du Passé" If the organ on the previous track was anything to speak of, the organ on this piece is excellent, as it keeps a frantic pace and wrestles with the bass in a great musical exhibition.

"Part Five ? Illusio" A stark and lengthy synthesizer passage carries on, and when something interesting actually happens, it's rather sudden and unexpected. It's a Mellotron-laden chord progression with a simple bass and drums backing it. It sounds nice, but isn't anything interesting, even when the organ, piano, and violin enter in turn- this is largely the problem with using such a trite chord progression and maintaining an insipid rhythm. The last section of the piece has something of a drum solo and a disjointed bass and Mellotron meandering underneath it, followed by more narration.

"Part Six - Ontology: Jamais Tel Mystère" Delicate piano and gorgeous violin form the foundation for an unconvincing, rather fragile vocal.

"Part Seven - Logos: Une Extrême Et Vague Thulé" The final composition is a fine rocker, with good use of guitars and violin flourishes lending it a Kansas flair. The vocals are mediocre, again making the recording sound somewhat like an amateurish recording, but for me, that can give it a certain appeal.

This is quite a promising debut release from a talented French trio that aims squarely at a evoking dreamy (hence the album title "Dreamland") sound scapes, a heady mixture of Porcupine Tree, Pulsar, Pink Floyd and assorted Symphonic stylists, thrusting the magical violin to the forefront as the vehicle for intense exploration. Thomas Nguyen cleverly handles exquisite guitars and luscious keyboards (fantastic organ solos), Pierre Boulonne wields an effective bass and the masterful violin, while Noe Lahaye does drum and percuss with style. All three sing but it must be said this is their Achilles heel, very soft and unconvincing (which hints again at Pulsar). The addition of a string quartet adds to the symphonic sound.

The disc starts off with some noise effects, "Vacuum" that rapidly turn into a metallic PTree-like dirge , laying down the florid tonal carpet for the massive 20 minute + epic "Idein" , a thundering psychedelic adventure with reptilian bass, thrashing drums that almost recalls Pink's "One of These Days", a platform for some spanking exhibitionist guitar work and screeching violin interplay . When the Edgar Allan Poe text narration kicks in, there is a vintage Moody Blues feel as well that is most enjoyable, providing even more width and space for the musical embrace. After a lengthy pool of atmospherics the colossal mellotron enters the fray, the 'lin weaving its spectral magic and the picture is now complete as the gentle vocals drift this into the bliss horizon, a bluesy axe solo and organ flourish finalize the Floydian feel. The brief but fabulous "Topos" bullies angrily with a robust bass smashing through the defenses, drums in full escort and the fiery organ adding to the frenzy. The under-produced vocals do little to harm the pleasure but they are weak, something these lads need to work on in the future. "Reflexum" is my favorite track here as it pursues the previous groove with the organ/bass as co-pilots, a spacey section blooms out of the blue that inspires vividly, much like early Porcupine Tree (the high pitched vocal section especially and the Colin Edwin-like bass romp) but the Hammond really steals the show, quivering majestically, burrowing deeply into the pleasure nodes. A delectable piece of Dreamland music! "Illusio" floods right in without a pause, ponderous electric piano droplets paint a subtle canvas that awakens the ensemble playing into another interstellar joyride. The violin contributes a welcome romantic element that is profoundly appealing while the drums and the mellotron evoke some distant thunder. I love this kind of fleeting atmospheric prog , with all its amateurish frills , so utterly refreshing and courageously bold. "Ontology" remains firmly entrenched in the melancholic state of mind, the quartet strings entwine magically in a symphonic arrangement that luxuriates in hushed splendor. The classical elements become evident, as the pace never hustles beyond a gentle liberation, a spiritually uplifting experience. "Logos" shuts this one down nicely, a reprise of earlier power and passion, a fitting summery of what Eidôlon has to offer. More EAP texts keep this firmly into the storied tradition of combining music and literature, giving both the proper respect.

A wonderfully honest (yeah, even amateurish) debut that bodes very well for the future, the delicate artwork and a warm dedicated feel pervades the entire project. Fans of genuine space-rock or sympho-prog who are in search of a new thrill, you need to check this one out.

4.5 cat-gut reveries.

Eidolon - a band from France who manage to create s special atmosphere with this first release. The album is named Dreamland from 2009, at is in my opinion an album more towards spacey/psychedlic prog , then a traditional symphonic band as is said in the description. The music is quite intristing , the instrumental passages are well played and well composed, remind me of Pink Floyd or even Nektar or Eloy in places, balanced music, mid tempo most of the time. After some spins I found this album to be enough intristing in this present scene of progressive music, but I can't say I was really impressed but this first release. A good album that desearve 3 stars, but fails to grab me all the way, some of the parts are to slow and to moody and atmospheric for my taste, I was expected more vein in some pieces. Anyway some of the keybords played by Thomas Nguyen in for ex Part Four - Reflexum: Les Réminiscences Drapées Du Passé, superb playing. So, overall the album IMO is a solid 3 stars, but not really something very essential in modern prog music, anyway if you like this kind of music, worth some spins. 3 stars for sure.