CERTITUDES

After a 13 year break (sound familiar ? ie.UNIVERS ZERO) PRESENT are back. I'm not counting the "C.O.D. Performance" record of 5 years earlier which was strictly a father and son effort. The lineup on this one features three members who were on the "Heresie" album by UNIVERS ZERO, namely Denis,Trigaux and Segers. So it's not so surprising how dark this album is.This is so impressive though, especially the drumming and piano playing. The angular guitar melodies are fantastic as well.

"Delusions" is the longest track at almost 15 minutes. Not a fan of the lyrics, but i'm a huge fan of the music. It opens with a vocal sound before piano and percussion create a cool melody. Vocals arrive sounding a little weird before some heavy bass and drums come in. I love how intricate this all sounds. Check out the guitar that starts before 8 minutes and goes on for 4 minutes ! Nice. Just an amazing passage of music. "May Day" opens with piano and keys before guitar, vocals and drums come in. More intricate sounds. Synths arrive bringing a haunting vibe with them. Vocals are spoken after 5 minutes as piano notes are slowly pressed. The vocals stop as synths come back. The drums are prominant as bass throbs and angular guitar sounds can be heard. Distant, methodical vocals before 8 minutes.

"The Sense Of Life" has a heavier sound to open. The vocals sound good on this one. The song calms down before 4 minutes. A guitar interlude after 5 minutes that is joined by keys then drums. The sound is amazing 8 1/2 minutes in. The original melody returns with vocals to end it. "Ex-Tago" opens with a dark and atmospheric mood that lasts for 1 1/2 minutes. Percussion, piano and guitar lead the way after that.

4.5 stars and my favourite PRESENT album so far. I only have "High Infidelity" left to review. It is surprising how much singing there is on this album, but it works. I just can't praise each band member enough for how well they play on this record.