SEAMUS

Eclectic Prog • France

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Seamus biography
Coming from France, SEAMUS is a band made of 5 main musicians and a big number of gusets and extra players, with no backtrack and no announced future plans as well - plus without the highest visibility on the market - still with one album that hides a tonic and tone-weighting project, labeled by Musea records. Though hardly to say the artists aren't at the edge of the music's success, their sole album, called "Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia", is that which celebrates SEAMUS's art, orientation, boundaries and reasons, being surprising, sterning and sausing, all in one.

Unstiff inside prog rock's major category, SEAMUS also have their moments of un-attachness towards prog rock, meaning they're either a senzational bounce or an outcasted text of art in comparison with what's (so) typically prog - and, of course, they're unrelated to anything from the tradition or even calmly/alternatively modern spirit of the movement. Perhaps because of this, if not because of other details as well, SEAMUS's work is quite moderately appreciated, in the sense that there are some views which don't really applaud the pull of this work. By openly showing that it's more of a project they made "for themselves" and "by their degree", the ensemble captures a scrochingly ironed and magically experimental moment and muse, building their concept art rock on that course - the progressive quality of this rock album almost sticks through at a later point, when something from SEAMUS's unusual and tense play indicates some stiched prog expressions and influences (mostly bearing RIO and Zeuhl-ish marks).

Anyway you take it, the reminder stays fresh: difficult, with a low accessibility and over-powered in experimental and abstract ambitions, this band goes well with prog rock (of the modern horizon) the same way crazy (but not necessarily referential) Avant grounds, mystical or tectonic Zeuhl jams or pumped-to-the max metal bands satisfy the bond with the prog genre. Not coincidentally, SEAMUS fall mostly into the puzzle-pieces of RIO and Zeuhl, with embebed experimentalism and an atractve language of dark or distorted (or even disarrayed) music, while the metal part is moreover a thing of shockwaves, and couple more fragments & figments of fusion, weird jazz, art rock, funk, contemporary sound and scaled rock create the eclectic compound.

Jumping back to the artists that are figured, here's how the experiment is practiced: E. Lorien plays guitar, vocals and works w...Coming from France, SEAMUS is a band made of 5 main musicians and a big number of gusets and extra players, with no backtrack and no announced future plans as well - plus without the highest visibility on the market - still with one album that hides a tonic and tone-weighting project, labeled by Musea records. Though hardly to say the artists aren't at the edge of the music's success, their sole album, called "Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia", is that which celebrates SEAMUS's art, orientation, boundaries and reasons, being surprising, sterning and sausing, all in one.

Unstiff inside prog rock's major category, SEAMUS also have their moments of un-attachness towards prog rock, meaning they're either a senzational bounce or an outcasted text of art in comparison with what's (so) typically prog - and, of course, they're unrelated to anything from the tradition or even calmly/alternatively modern spirit of the movement. Perhaps because of this, if not because of other details as well, SEAMUS's work is quite moderately appreciated, in the sense that there are some views which don't really applaud the pull of this work. By openly showing that it's more of a project they made "for themselves" and "by their degree", the ensemble captures a scrochingly ironed and magically experimental moment and muse, building their concept art rock on that course - the progressive quality of this rock album almost sticks through at a later point, when something from SEAMUS's unusual and tense play indicates some stiched prog expressions and influences (mostly bearing RIO and Zeuhl-ish marks).

Anyway you take it, the reminder stays fresh: difficult, with a low accessibility and over-powered in experimental and abstract ambitions, this band goes well with prog rock (of the modern horizon) the same way crazy (but not necessarily referential) Avant grounds, mystical or tectonic Zeuhl jams or pumped-to-the max metal bands satisfy the bond with the prog genre. Not coincidentally, SEAMUS fall mostly into the puzzle-pieces of RIO and Zeuhl, with embebed experimentalism and an atractve language of dark or distorted (or even disarrayed) music, while the metal part is moreover a thing of shockwaves, and couple more fragments & figments of fusion, weird jazz, art rock, funk, contemporary sound and scaled rock create the eclectic compound.

Jumping back to the artists that are figured, here's how the experiment is practiced: E. Lorien plays guitar, vocals and works with samples and effects, J.M. Unglas also plays guitas and vocals, but adds some drums and bass to S. Auger's, respectively E. Debodinance's work, while B. Rossignol plays keyboards. Guests are Gr�gory Hiest, Kenshi Izumo, N. Tafelmacher, Juan Jimena, Christophe Geiller, Faiza Kangoor and "Someone", making an exotic step into SEAMUS's instrumental show with flutes, recited lyrics, cajon, violins, Didjeridou, etc.

Referenced togheter with "dark side" prog bands like VAN DER GRAAF, UNIVERS ZERO, ART ZOYD, MAGMA or even the brawny moments of KING CRIMSON - influences that are and aren't well chosen - SEAMUS work an original way of prog music, despite that it has to do a bit with a forceful act of rock, plus it doesn't mean the work gets 100% original. Half of the essence and orientation comes from the concept, an open window into the Jewish Hollocaust of the Second Wolrd War. The cold, tragic and upsetting story relates, at least fairly, to the sadic, tendencious, carved and rupturous nature of the "musical". There are bits of sadness and anger in the expression, but the bond between the rock sound and the historical concept gets lost in the chaos and twitch (which are relatively qualities) of the style. Track by track, "Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia" is, in the true sense, schizophrenic, artistic, disjoined, voluminous, acid, intellectual, weird and ideally abstract. The experimental side incorporates a passion for contemporary patterns, atonal breaks, avant-rock cizels and expressive-less rustles, while the serious choice of dark avant and art fusion emphasizes a superior and pretentious creativity, regardless of anything.

With music of the new, agressive and unconventional kind, SEAMUS is highly recommended for fans of this scrupulous, climaxing and eccentric progressive manifest.

:::Victor "Philip" Parau:::

Why this artist must be listed in www.progarchives.com :
Approved by Eclectic Prog Team. Terrifically strange, powerful and dark prog project.

Discography:
Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia (2003)
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SEAMUS discography

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SEAMUS top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.27 | 14 ratings

Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia
2006

SEAMUS Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

SEAMUS Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

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SEAMUS Reviews

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Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia by SEAMUS album cover

Studio Album, 2006
3.27 | 14 ratings
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Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia
Seamus Eclectic Prog

Review by apps79
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

Seamus was a French project, led by composer anbd multi-instrumentalist Emmanuel Lorien Spinelli, who set up the whole thing in Toulouse.His main collaborators were multi-instrumentalist Jean-Michel Unglas , keyboardist B. Rossignol, English drummer S. Auger and bassist Emmanuel Debodinance.The sole album of the band ''Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia'' was recorded and mixed at the Elixir Studios in Daux between May and September 2002, featuring also five guest musicians on flutes, vocals and violins.For unknown reasons, the album was released in 2006 on Musea Records.

Quite succesful title, which actually combines three different languages (Hebrew, German and English), giving an idea to where the album heads.Seamus' music has an evident KING CRIMSON vibe througout, mixed with an impressive range of music palettes, such as Electronic Music, Jazz Rock, Psychedelic Rock and even Classical Music, offering often abstract, frenetic and dissonant compositions, full of experimental hints, trully progressive overtones and sampled effects.A simplistic description is hard to come.Spinelli's anxious spirit has led to him to an abnormal combination of music textures, half about of them are centered around angular and aggressive guitar parts in a complicated style, reminiscent of ROBERT FRIPP's style and supported by intense voices, a powerful rhythm section and some nervous keyboard parts.The rest of the album explores more experimental territories, having generally a very haunting, sinister atmosphere, every time based on a different instrument (like pianos, percussion, guitars, violins etc.) or even sound effects, with Classical and Fusion references and plenty of distorted vocal lines.Speaking of vocals, this unique album offers singing parts in all three aforementioned languages, but all are delivered in a very dark way.Does these trully personal yet obscure combinations work well?The answer is rather yes, ''Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia'' remains a hard-to-get-into album, but most of its part is definitely interesting with some very cool ideas and performances.

Since 2002 the main composer of the group Mr. Emmanuel Lorien Spinelli has moved to England, focusing in even more experimental forms of mnusic and art in general, and for this reason a second Seamus release is rather improssible to follow.

''Zealotry Sterblichen Schizophrenia'' is one of the more bizzare albums around.While having strong progressive roots, it scans so many different styles, that fans of really challenging and demanding rock adventures are more likely to appreciate it.Nevertheless the original material contained makes this a recommended release to say the least.

Thanks to Ricochet for the artist addition.