APAIRYS

"The Clock" begins symphonic, neo-melodic, ideal for bringing Christophe's vocals which can denote; yes the words in French can be disturbing when you want to listen and understand; this melodic song lacks soul; the guitar catches up by giving some pep, starting on a weighted heavy riff, bass forward too; it rises and the choirs hold their place with this grandiloquent side; the voice brings back what was done before, melodic, vintage; the proud 70s will love it, the most recent will find fault. "Interlude n°1" acoustic arpeggio on a guitar harmoniously echoes its notes aided by an ambient, enjoyable synth. "L'élan de mains" is more proggy with Pascal's voice flowing into the rhythm, the vocal variation having something to do with it; the verses unfold slowly, the orchestral part allows you to finally let go, a paradox of this French voice which should be a point of honor and which can slow down the departure for the prog lands; take this guitar solo, a good, reassuring, energetic metal prog; ANGE allows herself to sing French with charisma but the voice must fit into the rhythm otherwise it will cause dissonance. Air reminding me of NEMO for the caviar musical development which makes me miss the sincere voice. "Interlude n°2" buoy to recharge your batteries with the prog sound which is very present; dark, festive, pleasant interlude. "Astral Passions" intro to JPL, nervous guitar; good instrumental development with these voice-overs of male songs which increase the progressive sauce; the heavy solo, a fury of notes that machine-gun at anyone who wants to protect themselves; the sung return of Christophe finds the solution with this duo in stereo, for listeners to make their own choice because there it goes really well. "Interlude n°3" piano variation coming to jig with birds, followed by a plaintive violin tune, these interfaces are always excellent. "Origins" jerky air and dissonant melody like 'Tels Quel' from ANGE from 72; the musical time that follows is just purely enjoyable with this metronomic pad and this guitar from 1001 nights, a velvet moment with hints of Gregorian choirs which come across very well; cinematic symphony on the soundtrack of 'Tron' and another excellent guitar solo from Benoît; finale with Pascal's jerky vocal cascade, the quark slowing my accelerator from going into a trance.

"Interlude n°4" takes its place with a more elaborate pop rock which can serve as an intro to "Ode to the present" following the same tune on a progressive minute filled with emotion; the voice comes across better, there is more intensity, it is incorporated into the musical framework which does not need to be asked, offering a melodic fruity break; another more rhythmic with fine jazzy traces thanks to the whirling keyboard, shimmering and screaming its joy, quickly seconded by the guitar; the return of the verse is seamless, the high voice giving an emphatic atmosphere. "Interlude n°5" electronic and stereophonic, reverberation of notes on spatial air, a glass space, in short superb. "Seven" with a bit of the vocal tone of the great William SHELLER, text artist; tune that requires more attention, avoiding letting yourself slip into the musical framework; on the good side there is no break, the instruments quickly take their place by offering very interesting digressions like the one on a dreamlike Kashmiri crescendo; the guitar solo takes on some punchy prog metal; well on October 2 of the year 1187 I heard of course he is a prisoner of time and yes I listened, but I did not leave, I listened. "Interlude n°6" heavy prog with this guitar carried away by its thunderous drums, pleasure. "I was already waiting for you" melancholic, latent, posing piano intro; the contained prog metal explosion is reminiscent of the prog metal label; the vocal trace passes attractive, Silvain who launches into it; actual musical texts; the orchestration arrives at the detour and is worth the trip, a prog rock and its variation of tempting notes; the guitar, the keyboards are played in a fruity gig part in the middle of the piece making you forget time; the symphonic passage extends and veers into the famous grandiloquence; the final prog metal sets the fire before the saving rest which leaves me perplexed because everything is good there.

APAIRYS ​​took a daring bet, singing in French. Originally on Profilprog.

From France is coming this intristing band named Apairys, formed from the ashes of another two good french bands from prog zone Maldoror and Saens. Drumer Sivain Gillot from Maldoror and guitarist Benoît Campedel from Saens decided to take a step further in musical terms and Apairys was born. Helping hand from Saens vocalist Christophe Bellières. All three musicians involved playing on all instruments to be heared on their debut from 2019 named Vers la lumière .

The pieces are long elaborated, very nice changes in tempo and time signature, title track is almost 10 min of pure heavy prog and the ending track is lasting almost 17 min. The music offered can be described as a combination of former bands Maldoror with Saens but is little less symphonic then the last. Also I can trace lots of conections, musically speaking with another top band from France in last 20 years - Nemo, is intersting that Benoît Campedel played bass on Nemo most intresting albums ( at least for me), Presages from 2003 and Prélude à la ruine from 2004.

All in all a very worthy album in today prog scene, a really inspired , well played and produced release who desearve a far better recognition, they offer old school type of prog with notds to today scene, all wrapped in a solid and intresting package.

4 stars for sure, recommeded.