CIEL OUVERT

Martigan met music-producer Rudolf Nepix from Cologne soon after the release of ''Stolzenbach'', who was actually the one who encouraged the band to work on a second album.With the same line-up Martigan entered the studio and the result was the ''Ciel Ouvert'' CD in 1996, again released on the Cologne-based label Floh Dur.

The album shows some noticable improvement over the very weak ''Stolzenbach'', as Martigan play some more interesting and focused musicianship on this album with memorable and demanding material, not meeting the high standards of other Neo Prog bands, but moving certainly on the right direction.The dull and cheesy moments of the debut are almost gone and the gifted vocalist named Kai Markwordt now performs under more dramatic and progressive arrangements.His slightly GABRIEL-esque tone meets series of melodic, groovy compositions with some fine guitar solos, passionate atmospheres, powerful rhythm section and balanced keyboard work.The vocal arrangements are also more interesting and expressive, a couple of more mellow ballad tracks are now more needed than ever to soften the heavier tracks and the inspired keyboard/guitar solos along with the fair amount of breaks are more than welcome.On the other hand the somewhat cheap digital keyboards, the clear but mechanical mixing and a few moments recalling the low quality of ''Stolzenbach'' are present as well, scribbling down a bit the new face of Martigan.

Finally Martigan can be considered a band with a brighter future and potential for something trully essential.For the moment ''Ciel Ouvert'' is a good Neo Prog album along the lines of FINAL CONFLICT, MAGRATHEA, COLLAGE and SATELLITE with enough interesting material to be regarded as a recommended release.