THE DARK SIDE GUIDE

Set up in 2004 in Regensburg, Germany, Eclipse Sol-Air were born after Frenchman Philippe Matic-Arnauld des Lions wrote an ad about ''searching musicians for a revolutionary band''.Several members followed until the line-up was stabilized around female singer Eva Fickert, female violinist Katharina Sorgel, drummer David Bucherl and bassist Benno Schultheiss.This was the core that recorded the band's debut ''The dark side guide'' in 2007, released indepedently by the members.

Basically the sound of the band starts with strong guitar-based Heavy and Hard Rock inspirations with some sort of DEEP PURPLE, LED ZEPPELIN and even AC/DC influences, mixed inconsistently with Hammond organs, synthesizers and even more weirdly Classical piano touches and Medieval tunes in the vocal parts.Not very charming listening, considering these themes are pretty unrelated, while Fickert's very good English vocals stand out, even if they sound a little poppy.All these just until the middle of the album, where Philippe delivers a very 90's ANGE-type of straight Rock on ''You'll See It Tomorrow'' with French lyrics and good vibes.The long follower ''Part V'' shows eventually some good potential.Nice Heavy Prog with dominant organs, light pianos, professional breaks and strong symphonic passages, even if the mix of French, English and Latin lyrics is again questionable.''Part VI'' shows a darker side of the group with monster guitar moves and powerful grooves, containing also a beautiful folky texture with vintage flutes around the middle, but also a hillarious ending with bluesy hints.''Finalis'' is an average closer.Based on orchestral synths, poppy vocal lines and a few guitar solos, it just prooves the confusing style of Eclipse Sol-Air on their debut.''Outro'' makes me scratch my head why it was added in the first place.Four silent and boring minutes of music out of a childish playing box without any particular reason of existence.

Inconvincing and messed up debut by Eclipse Sol-Air.The two longer pieces have some great energy and very interesting ideas, but overall this work sounds totally directionless and unfocused.Not exactly recommended.