THE SWEET MELODY OF RESILIENCE

This is a concept album - one piece of music divided into eight parts - and by the sound of it it's a good concept too. For non-French speaking people it's a bit hard to tell though - the album is mostly instrumental, and although a detailed story is outlaid in the booklet it's all written in French. Apart from that, and the brief longevity of this effort, there isn't much negative about this venture.

We're served a varied constellation of tunes; from atmospheric mood explorations to jazz-tinged workouts, from majestic symphonic creations to powerful progressive metal of the slower variety. The band moved back and forth between these style variations to create compelling as well as disturbing sonic images; and apart from a production that a few times lets the band down in terms of mood creation this is a beautifully crafted effort.

Well worth checking out.