XAAL

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.

Before beginning my review, it would like to emphasize that I am not an admirer of the R.I.O style, with some rare exceptions among which I can detach the Swedish band Samla Mammas Manna, however, the the French band XAAL, gets me to please in many aspects, and the main of them is the beautiful arrangements form. I can cite as an example in the second albun entitled "Second Ere" which I considere superior to first "En Chemin" the track 2 Tranquille" that after a beginning with drums that remind World-Music, it "disembogues" in a beautiful passage where is a "dialogue" between a fingered guitar and the fretless bass to drive the music to a theme that mixes KING CRINSOM with JEFF BECK, still detach the track 5 " it Forces" in approximate molds of the Jazz Rock, very similar RETURN TO FOREVER, PASSPORT and MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA (this last citation due to the "very crazy" guitar solo in the Jonh Mclaughlin's style. My rate is 3 stars!!! Leaving clear that same not finding the disk essential he deserves figures in my collection!!!

XAAL were a three piece instrumental band from France who put out two very good albums in the nineties. This their final one is a powerful, dark and spacey affair with Rio / Zeuhl / Jazz references, in fact I was surprised at how MAGAM-like it is in places. Like the debut there are two guest horn players adding to the sound. One is Alex Ferrand who plays sax here. He's actually a good singer too and has sung on both MAGMA and OFFERING studio albums.That reminds me that on XAAL's debut they had the Guillard brothers on horns who played in both MAGMA and WEIDORJE.

"Rah" opens with this dark and powerful atmosphere as drums and other sounds come and go. I'm thinking of the band PRESENT here or UNIVERS ZERO.These angelic vocals come out of nowhere 4 1/2 minutes in and they disappear just as fast. It then kicks in heavily with guitar. A calm 6 minutes in and it turns haunting a minute later. Great sound when it kicks back in at 8 minutes. A very MAGMA-like rhythm here as guitar plays over top. "Jamis Tranquille" features some beautiful guitar and bass. I'm reminded of GORDIAN KNOT here. It builds 2 1/2 minutes in until they're rocking pretty good at the 3 minute mark.The tempo picks up before 4 1/2 minutes and we get a big finish.

"Al Abad" is dark as the guitar slowly comes and goes. It stays 1 1/2 minutes in with light drums and bass. Sax before 2 1/2 minutes takes the guitars place and leads for about 5 minutes then the guitar returns replacing the sax. The guitar is screaming before 9 1/2 minutes. "Piege" opens with drums and other sparse sounds follow. It kicks in before 2 1/2 minutes with guitar leading the way. The tempo picks up 4 1/2 minutes in and this sounds so much like MAGMA as the guitar plays over top. "Force" opens with synths,drums and fat bass lines (MAGMA-like).The guitar before 2 1/2 minutes sounds amazing. The guitar backs off before 5 minutes as synths take over.

Easily 4 stars.

Recorded in 1993 but only released by Musea Records two years later, when Xaal had already broken up, "Second Ere" is an outstanding elegy for a band so young and that has done some great input for the 90s progressive scene in such a short time. Going for a deeper exploration of the eclectic approach to zheul, jazz-rock, heavy psychedelia and Crimsonian vibe delivered in "En Chemin", this sophomore effort puts a special emphasis on contrast between the aggressive and subtle sides of Xaal's music. This second age is one of a tighter focus on two main sources, approaching the writing and arranging procedures from there. With greyish synth layers properly adorned with percussive touches and soaring guitar nuances we witness the start of 'Rah', leading shortly after to a pulsationally based section that reminds us of Magma-meets-Present. The presence of Arabic undertones helps to maintain some mysterious aura for a few climatic passages. The exotic vibe is enhanced on track 2, 'Jamais Tranquille'. Its rhythmic cadences and harmonic developments brings us to North African landscapes; the bass guitar's phrases add an exquisiteness to a wall of sound that, halfway through, augments its tense intensity on the wings of the guitar lines. This harder section sounds like a lost piece from King Crimson's Red era as if performed by cuya cadencia rítmica y armonías sobregrabadas de guitarras nos remiten a paisajes Shylock trying to emulate Primus - believe me, I couldn't come up with a better analogy to complete this description, my apologies. With its 10 ½ minute timespan, 'Al Abad' is the longest piece in teh album. Returning to the Arabic textures, 'Al Abad' starts on a heavily contemplative note, reminiscing of early 70s Weather Report: the serene sax lines provided by guest Ferrand reinforce this impression. The guitar solo that follows in not as jazzy: sounding more like a mixture of Steve Hillage and Chris Karrer, it sets a hard psychedelic tone fluidly framed in the overall fusionesque structure. 'Piège' starts with a languid cadence tha resembles the preceding track, but the level of tension is noticeably higher due to the rhythm duo's tribal spur and the agile, neurotic lead guitar's phrases. It's just a matter of time that the band shifts into a more extrovrted section, which is when the bands makes a powerful jazz-rock statement weirdly augmented by spacey synthesizer ornaments. I feel like the potential climax is not completely capitalized, since the abrupt ending comes a bit too early to my taste. This factor is properly resolved in the closer 'Force', a piece that finds the band (once again) revitaliazing the heritages of Shylock and avant-prog-jazz (a bit of Magma, a bit of Potemkine). The guitar solo is infinitely electrifying, very McLaughlinesque. The presence of guest horn players helps to reinforce the track's rhythmic structure, with the drummer also finding some room to let his individual proficiency shine. It is a real pity that this album didn't even reach the 40 minute mark: too short, indeed. Anyway, when you look back in the eraly stages of te hso-called 90s prog revival and focus on a appreciation of Xaal's discography, you might as well label them as the missing link between the avant-side of 70s French prog and the sonic achievements of current French bands such as Taal and NeBeLNeST.

XAAL were an all instrumental band from France who put out two great records in the nineties. There is a mixture of Rio, Zeuhl and Jazz in this their debut, and more than once I was reminded of both CAMEL and KING CRIMSON.This seems to be some sort of a concept album as there is a little written blurb with each song to read, but the concept is vague to say the least. The music though is crystal clear. Cool to see the Guillard brothers here on horns, they've both played in MAGMA and WEIDORJE.

"L'Enfant" has such beautiful sounding guitar melodies (Latimer-like) with light drums. As bass comes in 4 1/2 minutes in the song changes with uptempo, passionate passages coming and going. The drumming is fantastic ! "Ballade" is a good uptempo song with the focus on the guitar and drums with sax and trumpet adding some flavour. "Le Jardin" opens with the birds singing as an intricate guitar melody with bass comes in. Drums follow as the guitar gets more aggressive. I'm reminded of CAMEL a minute in. "En Chemin" is quite a ride as it opens with piano, bass, drums and guitar. The tempo changes often and the song gets intense 3 minutes in before changing completely 4 minutes in to a jazzy little number. Synth-guitar and light drums as the song builds after 5 minutes.

"Talisman" opens with some beautiful sounding guitar as bass and light drums come for the ride. The guitar is more raw after 4 minutes. "Le Vieux Chasseur De Papillons" opens with lots of atmosphere that lasts for 2 minutes before some tasteful guitar comes in. Great sound 5 minutes in. "Ascension" has a dark and heavy intro with Fripp-like guitar that slowly grinds out angular melodies. The song stops completely 2 minutes in and restarts with a different guitar melody as the song continues to unfold. The wind is blowing to end it. "Byblos" is dominated by guitar and drums before a blistering guitar solo 3 1/2 minutes in. We get an atmospheric section 2 minutes later with some synth-guitar before a climate change 8 1/2 minutes in of horns and drums. The final track "Final" is less then a minute long. It sounds like someone breathing hard and then yelling as drums pound to a dramatic ending.

Just an excellent release with amazing instrumental work that should satisfy Zeuhl, Rio and Jazz lovers alike.

Sensational follow-up from this mysterious power trio. 'Though unsatisfyingly short in length it's a dizzying object lesson in RIO, zeuhl, and jazz. All instrumental, with a great flair for melody and tension this is, to my mind, real progressive metal. Similar to Japan's Happy Family.

Xaal's first album was quite a revelation for the prog scene in the early 90s. The mixture of Crimson trend, jazz-rock and regular melodic symph prog that the band developed across this album's repertoire felt really amazing, regarding that it was really mature for a debut and for such young musicians. Also, you will find lots of energy in the trio's performances and a clever use of complexity in the arrangements: at times, that complexity is enhanced by the use of some RIO-inspired tricks, like dark ambiences and subtle dissonant textures. "En Chemin" is really great, from beginning to end. The opener 'L'enfant' is related to the KC-meets-Camel aura that Shylock recreated and mastered some time ago. 'Ballade' goes to the fresher vibes of funky-jazz, with the added intervention of a duet of sax and trumpet that helps the basic trio to fulfill properly the joyful demands of the basic jam. 'Hkunk's Garden' retakes the path of track 1, only including some exotic flavors in the main theme; just to keep the logic working, I guess, the title track, track no. 4, displays a predominant jazzy colorfulness just like track 2 did, but this time, including some disturbing adornments in the interlude that may remind the listener of some sort of accessible RIO. 'Talisman' is driven softly and tastefully through the trend of fusion, portraying a patently modern sound, like some sort of Tribal Tech without a background of digital synths. After a mysterious and subtly dense guitar-synth intro, 'Le Vieux Chasseur de Papillons' follows a similar path to that of the title track: the energetic climax that is built up before the closing reprise of the intro theme shows how powerful this trio was. 'Ascension' finds the band exploring seriously and deeply their taste for accessible RIO: the darkness of the motifs and counterpoints is elegantly achieved, although perhaps a little more strength could have been used here. But strength is what is not missing at all in the 11-minute 'Byblos', which installs a "Red"-era KC vibe on a solid jazz-rock basis during the first part. Then comes a languid interlude based on aleatory guitar and synth layers, from which the dissonant fire of the second part emerges in a majestic way. This time, the use of guests on brass instruments serves as a vehicle for RIO mannerisms, helping to build up a climax. This is the richest number in the album. The frenzy of the 1-minute 'Finale' sounds like a funny impersonation of the release of inner demons: a surprising, joyful way to end a great album.

3.5 stars really

In the lenghty French prog tradition of heavily Crimson inspired bands (such Carpe Diem, Shylock and recently Nebelnest), came out in the early 90's Xaal, a guitar-lead trio that gets some help either from a keyboardist on some tracks and some brass section in other (and both on the second last track). Clearly this instrumental trio was at the top of their game and from these years, there were not many new generation groups that were able to top them.

Starting out on three very familiar APP notes, the album is a conceptual piece about a Child's way to his destiny and the tricks, traps and other obstacles of life on his road to fulfilment. Yes, these guys have clearly heard some King Crimson, but they are jazzier than the Fripp boys, but there are ever-so subtle hints of Magma also.

Not everything is perfect on the album, most notably the weak KB on the closing moments of the title track but on the whole, the album holds its own without ever being really brilliant either. The climax of the album comes with the second-last 11-min Byblos (and its incredible middle section where the brass section is contributing to the madness that Alamaailman Vasarat would make theirs a decade later, and the incredibly violent Final.

Not an easy listen for casual progheads, partly due to the instrumental nature of their music, Xaal's first album is certainly worth a spin, but nothing absolutely essential either.