MATRICIDE

La Tulipe Noire's first album with new vocalist Julie Massino is a solid album in the tradition of Nostimon Hemar, its predecessor. As usual with La Tulipe Noire, the shadow of early Fish-era Marillion hangs heavy over proceedings, but by this point in their careers the band have become adept at making that sound their own and saying something new with it, having developed substantially over the Shattered Visage days. Massino turns in a credible turn as lead vocalist, and by and large in the seven years - the largest gap we've ever seen between Tulipe Noire albums - the band don't seem to have made any musical quantum leaps, but they've not gained much rust either.

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Posted Friday, January 10, 2014 | Review this album | Report (Review #1112034)

I discovered La Tulipe Noire with this album, having (shamefully) not heard previous samples from them. "Matricide" is an enthralling concept about mother Earth and the way modern humans don't respect the natural course of events, from artificial food to nuclear weapons and war, ultimately leading to total destruction, being discovered by the main characters of the story in a future time.

The concept/lyrics (which must be followed along with the music to fully appreciate it) could come from a modern sci-fi movie but touches modern problems and concerns, which are conveyed in an almost apocalyptic manner through the course of the album, and this is where LTN succeed. The opening haunting, operatic, Latin-sung, 'A Letter from Patmos' sets the scene for what is about to follow: hyper-dynamic heavy Neo-prog, mostly based on a 4/4 tempo, with inspired lush-keyboards and raw female vocals by the surprising Julie Massino (most known to the Greek audience via her participation in a X-Factor type show (!) as a vocal teacher).

The ghosts of early Pallas, IQ and Marillion hang above Hyde's mighty keyboard lines, but LTN have taken this sound further and made it their own, although keeping it "rough around the edges", which boosts its character further; no jolly Neo-prog here. To this assist the heavy, almost metallic riffing of Marios and the harsh, yet strangely with a dose of neo-classical, vocals of Massino. Despite a tiny dip of interest towards the middle of the album (Radio Days I am looking at you) and a couple of unexpected fade-outs, the result is consistent and, above all, is a real musical proposal.

There are too many highlights to choose from an album that could have well served David Lynch in one of his sci-fi movies; essential for fans of heavy neo-prog, a near masterpiece.

4+ stars

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Posted Saturday, January 11, 2014 | Review this album | Report (Review #1112360)

What happend here? The sound is rude and heavy, what's disappointed! Being a big fan of La tulipe Noire i was curious about the new album, but im a bit disappointed about the new singer. She's not my cup of tea, because she tries to be too much aggressive and try to imitate the heavy metal timbre ... (read more)

Report this review (#1212915) | Posted by Aragon | Sunday, July 13, 2014 | Review Permanlink

This is over-the top, super serious neoprogressive rock from a band who probably listened to early period Marillion about 2000 times. And I love it!!! Usually this is not my cup of tea, but this greek band took me by surprise with their fantastic Nostimon hemar and I have been tearing my hai ... (read more)

Report this review (#1065783) | Posted by Andis | Thursday, October 24, 2013 | Review Permanlink

As someone who likes La Tulipe Noire's previous albums, I was a little surprised(and happy) to see that after seven years they released a new album. And after several listens, I can say that this is really an excellent album. The subject matter, matricide, is not a pleasant one, and I was expecting ... (read more)

Report this review (#1020646) | Posted by emperorken | Monday, August 19, 2013 | Review Permanlink

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