French Symphonic Prog

I don't know too much about French Symphonic Prog but lately i've been very interested in exploring this scene. For the longest time the only band i knew of was Ange, and i quite enjoy their agressive, almost over-the-top theatrical take on Symphonic Prog.

Being a strange dude, I've also always liked music with lyrics in foreign languages that i can't understand. It adds a strange mystical slant to the music that makes it feel like i'm hearing something from another world... another dimension. Or i like to pretend that's the case.
This is the case with the Italian Prog scene... and it seems to be the same with French bands for me.

From what little i've heard, band like Carpe Diem and Atoll are quite amazing... and Mona Lisa are interesting as well. I'm currently trying to explore the scene further; it seems there are many hidden gems from that country that deserve more attention.

Do you all have any personal favorites? I'm interested to see other people's general feelings on that scene. Does anyone believe it deserves to be it's own genre (as Italian Symph. Prog has become)?

Nobody can deny that French Theatric Symphonic is an interesting part of Symphonic, but the language is so hard to relate with Prog, that it's an acquired taste.

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - January 01 2009 at 13:21

"I'd recommend SHYLOCK, ARACHNOID, and MEMORIANCE."
I second...

"Does anyone believe it deserves to be it's own genre (as Italian Symph. Prog has become)?"
I think only italian bands deserves a different style because the symphonic there is huge different... I like to say italian bands do a baroque progressive

Pulsar and Aisa Minor -a french-turkish band - are also very good...

Tai Phong is my first French Symphonic.

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Nobody can deny that French Theatric Symphonic is an interesting part of Symphonic, but the language is so hard to relate with Prog, that it's an acquired taste.

? That is really just your own problem. Not the French language.

Artcane isn't mentioned by anyone yet. Catharsis and Wapassou are great too.

There are fabulous bands and albums from France. Not sure if PA should give it a separate genre (probably not), but what I do at home is to actually seperate both albums from Italy and France from the rest of the bunch (but the styles and genres are mixed somewhat).
Some fabulous bands are the old timers Ange, Atoll, Carpe Diem, Memoriance, Laurent Thibault, Arachnoid, Clearlight, Eden, Pentacle, Pulsar, Mona Lisa, Alain Markusfeld, Sandrose, Clivage, Catharsis, Ame Son, Traveling, Alpha Centaury, Terpandre, Elohim, Ripaiile, Metabolisme, Skryvania, Shylock, Troide, Troisieme Rive etc.

And the more recent bands such as the magnificent Maldoror (brilliant album, even more so if you speak French), Nemo, Thork, the amazing Nil and their "relatives" Syrinx (two absolutely gorgoues bands!!!), Taal, Setna, Sensitive to Light and Saens, 4/3 de Trio, Negative Zone and more...  (not listen in PA)

In this current scene so far Maldoror's album L'arbre Cimetiere is one of my wife's and my all-time favourites.
A must album!!! 
I also absolutely love the albums from the Nil/Syrinx/Thork camp, especially the first two bands.

There are also the more experimental yet also very theatrical bands such as Komintern, Emanuel Booz, Moving Gelatine Plates, Jean Paul Prat, Chene Noir, Pacal Duffard et al. And of course the Zeuhl school is quite theatrical as well (at least the vocals fronted zeuhl bands, though not exclusively).

Logan wrote: Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Nobody can deny that French Theatric Symphonic is an interesting part of Symphonic, but the language is so hard to relate with Prog, that it's an acquired taste.... Sorry for snipping your post.  Why do you find it hard to relate the language with Prog?  I don't really think in those terms, but if anything the French language would give the rock more art cache to my ears (partially because I associate, to an extent, art rock with art house cinema, and was very big on French films).