CONTES DES SOUS-BOIS

This is a bizarre one, found it in a Budapest prog store, sort of expecting a Mona Lisa/Ange kind of album with assorted medieval influences. Guillaume is the leader of French prog group Versailles (a very uneven discography to say the least) and yet was quite stunning on the 1998 Mona Lisa album "De L'Ombre à la Lumière". His guitar playing was spirited and sweaty especially on the epic "Voyage avec les Morts", really catching my attention. "Contes des Sous-Bois" certainly possesses a raucous Middle Ages feel, what with that wistful cover art of a milady piercing a tree with a halberd (look it up , guys) . The music is pleasing, spooky and grating at the same time, mainly due to the typical hysterics that make French prog so universally admired and yet feared. The opening dozen minute long "Le Mystique Eremetique" is a case in point, with interesting instrumental choices that are confronted with some rather, let's say odd vocals. Nowhere does the singing get weirder than on the third track "Sacrifice Sacré Vice" (Sacrifice Sacred Vice, as if you couldn't guess!). Freddie Mercury meets David Surkamp of Pavlov's Dog, I mean it's funny. Another 11.5 minute closer, "Mistigricide" is another gruesome piece, with dense organs, frenzied vampiric vocals, ideal Halloween music in so many ways, serenading the local bats into screeching overhead. The fabulous guitar solo is scratchy, the bass rumbles nimbly, actually pretty intense, imagine for a second a French proggy Bauhaus (though Peter Murphy was a way more intriguing talent). An obvious curiosity that could have been more effective with a bit more polish but .....maybe not ! File under "oddity "

3.5 chauve-souris

Guillaume de la Piliere (born as Guillaume Thiebault) was mostly known for his performances as the lead singer and guitarist of the Theatrical Symphonic Rock band Versailles.However, being also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and having plenty of time after the third Versailles album ''Le trésor de Valliesres'', Piliere arranged his first solo release ''Contes des sous-bois'', released in 1997 on his band's label Musea Records.

The album showcases Piliere's varied influences in their entirety, being a nice amalgam of Theatrical, Psychedelic and Symphonic Rock, heavily based on the diverse keyboard passages and the aggressive guitar work.''La Mustique Bremitique'' is nothing less than 11 minutes of dramatic guitar-driven Psychedelic Rock mixed with beautiful Symphonic Rock breaks, characterized by the strong guitar grooves, the dreamy flute work and the delicate organ sounds.''Diaboliquement Divin'' is an obscure mix of acoustic guitars and sitar with spacey synths and theatrical vocals, a trully personal approach by the artist.''Sacrifice Sacre Vice'' recalls the more straightforward moments of the French Rock movement with good guitar work but a rather plane steady groove, while the vocals are over the top, fortunately the keyboard work towards the end is fantastic.''Maitre On Duc'' is close to the likes of MONA LISA, AMANDA and VERSAILLES, dreamy ballad full of sensitive vocals, a multi-choir chorus, elegant piano and flutes around.The closing 11-min. ''Mistigricide'' delivers a return to the sound of ''La Mustique Bremitique''.ANGE/MONA LISA-influenced Symphonic Rock with psychedelic touches, theatrical vocals all the way, trully dramatic organ runs and great guitar work throughout, resulting a composition filled with shifting moods and atmospheres.

A solid and trully artistic first effort by this talented French musician, which will appeal to a wide spectrum of fans within the prog aesthetics.Warmly recommended, especially to lovers of the French style of Prog.