KADWALADYR

Before joining Seven Reizh, the Mevel tribe (Gurvan, Gwenhaë, Konan and Bleuwen) had won over the Musea label with a rather interesting project. Although "The Last Hero" released in 1995 is dispensable, their second effort "18.16" offers a fusion between Jazz-funk and original folk music. Wispy vocals, melancholy bagpipes, wistles and various traditional instruments find themselves propelled by a powerful rhythm. We go from a poetic atmosphere "The Young Woman Who Walked With The Stones" to purely festive moments. Long rolls of varied percussions, sometimes a funky bass / guitar duet as in "Nous Sommes d'Ailleurs", and the bet is won: it grooves!

The fact that I'm not a neoprog means that I tend to think of the 80s / 90s as two dark decades where only the Musea label fought for the survival of the prog. (Which, seen from a neo angle, of course does not make sense.) This is why this record remains an excellent memory of this period when rare enthusiasts fought to keep the production of progressive rock afloat and satisfy those who had not dropped out.

Like one would expect from Brittany, we are treated to, or subject to, as per your tastes, a plethora of pipes. Not unexpectedly for a French release, we are also exposed to melodrama and a certain overwroughtedness. Sometimes this works, as in the incisive closer "Nous Sommes D'Ailleurs", even if it rehashes the usual if understandable celtic paranoia about cultural instability. But sometimes I hear a bit too much of Christian Descamp's vapid vitriole in "Hent ar sevenadurezh dazont". Still, with instrumentals like "Little Fairy (in Urban Megaliths)" and the lovely female voice of "Tarraing Na Mara", we certainly aren't submerged in self pity.

Even if there are only passing clues to later member-infused works like those of SEVEN REIZH, this finale in the KAD repertoire is worth discovering for fans of Breton folk rock and French prog in general.