PATIENCE

I've been following Clement Belio's efforts for some time now, ever since the old guitar forum days (about 10+ years now). He is a producer from France, who composes and plays mostly everything himself save for the guest appearances on his albums. He also mixes and produces it all. It's honestly a shame his music hasn't been able to cut through the noise just yet.. But I'm sure it will happen!

This album, Patience, was a monster when it dropped in 2019. It instantly became one of my absolute favorites of the year and beyond. It is so mature, well paced, brilliantly executed and downright beautiful. Conceptual in a melodic sense, but every song is unique and serves it's place on the record very well.

The whole album is like a celebration of music. It takes from many genres and blends styles to create such an emotional ride. From Tigran Hamasyan style Eastern-tinged piano bits, to Jacob Collier level harmonic vocal textures, to soft ambient passages and blistering chaotic metal-influenced madness. The record even includes an arrangement of a French composers piece, "La Danse Macabre", of which Clement takes the spice dial and cranks it into ghost- pepper-ville.

For some reason, this album is on this site but does not appear in the Eclectic Prog 2019 album list. I hope having a written review helps it appear so others might find it. Clement definitely deserves some more recognition for his efforts!

5 star album for me. Particularly because it is so consistent and well-realized. Do yourself a favor and check it out!