XAAL

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French act Xaal carried a decade of history, starting back in 1986 originally as a trio with Laurent Imperato on guitar, Patrick Boileau on drums and Nicolas Neimer on bass, exploring the Jazz Rock territory in the style of Jeff Beck.Two years later Xaal begun writing original compositions with the arrival of Stéphane Jaoui on keyboards and later Jad Ayache on guitars.Some of them would eventually end up in the first self-titled cassette release of the group from 1990.

The sound of Xaal on this work was emphatic guitar-driven Progressive Rock with big time KING CRIMSON influences as well as some PULSAR/CARPE DIEM-hypnotic textures.Good instrumental compositions that are characterized by an alternating guitar mood between strong FRIPP-ian acrobatics and smooth tremblings along with a very deep bass work.There is also a good amount of KING CRIMSON-esque solos to be found throughout except the heavy and groovy parts.But the sound of Xaal goes beyond this major influence.The arrangements are often colored with hypnotic synth breaks, elegant flutes and even Fusion-esque keyboard solos, the later not being a very succesful choice due to their plastic sound.Xaal were actually very good in producing different atmospheres and the more dynamic and sharp parts are usually followed by textures in a very light Fusion style.

A versatile and very rare cassette of all instrumental Prog/Fusion/Jazz Rock by a band with huge potential.Notice that both ''Piege'' and ''Byblos'' made it later on the pair of official albums Xaal released.Strongly recommended if you come across a copy...3.5 stars.