ODYSSEE

'Odyssee' is the one and only album from this French quartet. It has become one of those albums that many prog fans have heard of but have never actually heard. I was lucky enough to find a copy at a used record vinyl shop in the middle of Nowheresville, Virginia, and I believe the guy severely undercharged me at $15. (I wasn't complaining of course!) What I beheld when I laid the needle down was one of the heaviest, darkest, most fascinating and exciting prog records of the '70s. It totally succeeds, despite borrowing quite liberally from a particular rhythm and melody in King Crimson's "Red" (heard in third track "Novembre"). Additionally, the first two "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" movements are referenced in fourth song "25e Anniversaire". But 'Odyssee' as a whole is no K.C. rip-off-it also moves in a similar area as that of Pulsar (hypnotic space). And there are many moments of heavy riff-grinding that remind of the heavier Italian prog combos (ie. Jumbo, Biglietto Per L'Inferno, Il Balletto Di Bronzo). Despite these reference points, Artcane manages a unique, versatile style all their own.

Each of the 6 songs holds it's own captivating personality. A huge thumbs-up for the title track, all 2:20 of it, which doesn't hesitate to let the listener know what's in store on the rest of the album. The song pulses with energy, aggressive rhythms and arresting melodic choices setting the tone. It crashes into the mellow beginnings of "Le Chant D'Orphée", which builds and builds and eventually succumbs to Jack Mlynski's incredibly powerful riff construction. Vocals are sparse on 'Odyssee', but when introduced on "Le Chant." they are enigmatic and ghostly. The album's real centerpiece is "Artcane I", a lengthy track encapsulating everything great about Artcane: patient crescendos of cosmic atmospherics; hypnotic keyboard repetitions courtesy of Alain Coupel; the nimble yet heavy-handed drumming of Daniel Locci; creepy, dark vibrations all over the place; spurts of jazz-rock rhythms; moments of pure heaviness like the most metallic moments of '70s-era Rush. Too bad this band's career was so fleeting-I can't imagine what "Artcane II" might've sounded like!

Two of the most exciting moments come second-hand from themes laid down by King Crimson. Some would call it plagiarism; I would call it "tribute". This is not a book report, it is art, and what better art to draw influence from than King Crimson's final '70s period? It would be more disturbing if they couldn't come up with anything original at all, but 'Odyssee' is full of ideas, chemistry, talent and power. Too bad they weren't around long enough to capitalize on it.

It's no mystery which band influenced this one-off French quartet. "Novembre" features a modified "Starless and Bible Black" riff as its main motive, while "25e Anniversaire" plunders the main guitar riff from "Lark's Tongues In Aspic, Part 2".

Plagiarism aside, this band manage to eventually carve out their own personality on the lengthy "Artcane I", which takes up much of the real estate on the album's B-side. With intriguing synthesizer textures and minimalist references, it's a wistful reminder that this band could have achieved something grand if they lasted long enough to record a second album. As it is, we'll never know.

Cool sounding, rapid pulsing, factitious progressive recording, of the times where the gold of the music turns, straightly, into the last advanced melodies and the last grueling seminal dynamics, in the period where fancying the music becomes a rhythm of keeping the classic touch alive, plus in a collective where drowning in sound or dipping only the slight off the music magic means a self-shock immediate ending. And Artcane, at their entire potential, did ended the affair rapidly, in tears I can hardly imagine being played endlessly or by many;yet the "left alone" album, Odyssee, which is a glass bead music style and a deep end passion play, is quite a convincing progressive instrumental romp, giving various delights to the forgiving easy, indifferent or slow alternative motions. It's an album of full prog gust, it's a band-beat, but the music, in all its experimental or melancholic vibration, certainly satisfies and certainly breaks the liquid of forgetting the classic, dismaying the style or playing loose and selfishly. It's the kind of relaxing hard feeling to a certain point of mixed progressive renown.

The composition certainly feels...composed, reproduced, attacked or maneiged for itself, for its character and for the persistence of the genre. Curios motives are also fast, so that the spin of this record illuminates little by little complexity. The stirring instrumental pleasure makes out of the musicians beholding it masters; or just intriguing dust-biters: since the percussion is usually accurately dark, the guitar/bass vibrations are none of a kind, yet good for a mind, the sweep staking mix of keyboards with synths makes a low, but full of glamor hush, and the vocals apply one charismatic line here, another one there and another one in another fragment of lyrical occasional interest. The dark vogue is eclipse by the melodic, conceptual or romantic (yes, either as programmed or as very contriving) style-lift, Artcane proving a very complex signature over what is merely condensed, a tight-emotion over what is little crumbled in deep meditations, or several points of neurosis where the beat-discipline loses its vital review. Artcane proves art by signaling the few perfect (or close to, anywhere nothing so dull) emotions that a progressive parlor needs to emphase radically: the intricate time signature, the forever armed flavor for playing with the heavy concepts, the liking of a entertaining unsure melody and the vibration inside a symbolic forgotten enclosure. And, oh, some King Crimson covering punches; cause, sure, there are plenty of "fractures" or even some mild-late sound experiments that this band made sure to memorize and to, gladly, sophisticate.

The rest of the music-moments are various and fulfilling, it's a real pleasure, maybe not out of excitement (though the dusty rare record, with the phenomenal aptitude of having composed decently great music, is a pride and an amide), but out of an epithet psychology of music for the mind and the impression, feedback by a lot of comfort. There are cosmic and, let's call it late, psych-smikes in some of the vibrations that don't collapse pertinaciously, but stay in a preluding suspense. The epics are key-points, even sole styles. November applies crimson paint all over rough, but much controlled riffs or over a delicate concept of warm thermal rock. The experiments are left for something of the second epic, which suddenly hates to improvise the same thing, so it comes with bright-dim motions, with gust-growth instrumental passions and with a 15 minutes endurance in contaminating the thick prog soul with relentlessness. I'm not sure what the small edges in the beginning are, the recording faulty tone, the crumble of some noises or the breath inside the concept attitude. And gamely paradisaic (meaning high reflection, low prognosis) goes the rest of the substantial art composition. That's quite an Artcane dynamic, but also a bit too conventional beat-dazzle or a marginal effect to the already symbolic and appreciate involvement. Rest to say, the Odyssee sound travel bears fusion, but in grams and powder, in strings or in the mixes. The drama is intense, till it becomes a dream of heavy acoustics, tough music religion or criminally prominent versatileness.

Not a masterpiece, not a forgiving one-low act, not a breath take, yet certainly a very impressive creation out of those that barely escape the time honor or the sound improvisation. I enjoyed as a dedicate, nimble and advance-feeling progger this album, so the recommendation is high, the eclecticism is authenticated and the passion beholds one tiny drop of heavy dispersion. Typically classic. Or moderately original. Artcane! and truly little else during the moment.

This one is even better than advertised.Released in 1977 on the Philips label,this French band blesses us with an almost all instrumental album(except for two songs) with some excellent guitar (ala Fripp) and a lot of spacey synths much like fellow French band CARPE DIEM.There is a darkness about this album that really draws me in. The title track Odysse opens with spacey synths and pounding drums.I am addicted to the main melody,i may need an intervention, this is so good. Check out the guitar! This is way too short,but what a way to open the album. Le Chant D'Orphee opens with acoustic guitar and spoken words.Drums and vocals join the guitar.This theme is repeated before the song veers off in another direction 2 minutes in.Spacey synths (i'll be saying that a lot),bass and some crisp drumming take over.I just love this section.A heavy guitar solo 3 1/2 minutes in to end it. Novembre is an over 9 minute instrumental. After an intense intro we get some atmosphere as synths provide a solemn melody.Drums come pounding in after 2 minutes.Again they sound so crisp.Guitar joins in and this is heaven! Dark and heavy with some Fripp-like angular guitar lines.Thankfully this goes on and on for almost 10 minutes.Just a fabulous sound. 25' Anniversaire opens with an uptempo melody before calming down quickly.Acoustic guitar with spacey synths are pushed aside by a raw sounding guitar melody that reminds me of KING CRIMSON's Larks' Tongues In Aspic Part 2.The drumming really shines.The guitar style changes as we get some terrific solos the rest of the way. Artcane 1 is over 16 minutes in length,the longest track. A spacey atmosphere for about 5 minutes with some electronics.Drums then arrive and the synth melody stops. The drums stop 7 1/2 minutes in and are replaced by acoustic guitar and spacey synths.It's building.Keys replace synths and drums replace guitar 8 1/2 minutes in.Guitar is back after 10 minutes.Synths return 14 minutes in.My only complaint is that this song has worn out it's welcome with me before it's over. Nostalgie opens with spacey keys that are joined by acoustic guitar.Vocals are reserved.Synths come and go.This is a mellow track until 4 minutes in when electric guitar,bass and drums make some wonderful noise.A great way to end the song and the album. This was the only album they recorded unfortunately. If you can find it don't hesitate.A real gem.