Playlist: [ Ссылка ]

[ Ссылка ]

[ Ссылка ]

1. Headliner (4:32)
2. In The Name Of... (5:02)
3. Vision (9:50)
4. Knight Of The Sun (6:46)
5. Unquiet (13:15)
6. Maginot Line (3:40)
7. David The King (3:23)
8. White & Blue (9:01)
9. Dolls (16:50)
9.1 Nightfall
9.2 Toys In The Attic
9.3 Mental Take-off
9.4 Reverse Rules
9.5 Another Dream: The Dead Knight
9.6 Ending Before Another One

Total playing time: 72:46

- Karim Abdelali / drums
- Freud Chaudeaux / lead vocals, bass, guitars
- Reno Ferre / lead guitars
- Francois Festy / keyboards, vocals
- Claude Figge / congas

AFTERGLOW is a five-piece set from Marseille featuring Reno Ferré on lead guitar, Karim Abdelali on drums, François Festy on keyboards and vocals, Claude Figge on congas and Freud Chaudeaux on lead vocals (Chaudeaux sings in English and sounds a bit like Steve Hoggarth). Deftly avoiding overly simplistic formulas, their style is a savvy combination of hard material from the old guard (SAGA, RUSH) and more modern neo-progsters (PENDRAGON, IQ).

Achieving a good balance between vocal and instrumental pieces, their album "Yggdrasil" features some clever compositions and contrasting moods with rather dark overtones. Chaudeau's accented vocals may be a little distracting at times but the excellent songwriting and instrumental performance are what really stands out, far outweighing such minor flaw. The album centers around two epic-length tracks containing a variety of themes and textures; they also don some neat guitar work and lovely keyboard playing.

Recommended for neo-prog buffs who want to add a little depth to their collection.

Lise (Hibou), CANADA

The opening song is pretty short though, a nice instrumental to start with called Headliner (3,25*). Next is one with vocals sounding ok but not really great or special (both vocals and song that is) (3*). Third track is Vision, the first with substential length. It starts with quiet acoustic guitar, after a minute joined by vocals and electric guitar and energetic drumming. Some strange keyboardsounds follow then followed by organ returning to vocals and electric guitar again, sometimes the guitar sounds out of tune but it could be deliberate. Turns out to be a versatile track this, composition is quite good with nice melody and mood and temperament changes (4*). Next is Knight of the Sun, a song I liked from the beginning. Very melodic middle length instrumental track, accessible with catchy percussion at the start and great guitar and keyboard later on(4,25*). Next is an epical one, called Unquiet. Along with previous this probably the highlight of the album, brilliant and true symphonical composition with several excellent keyboardparts. This one of the best neo progressivesongs I know (4,75*). Keyboard is also dominant in the short Maginot Line, a nice compact energetic song (3,5*). David the King is also short but more ballad like with acoustic guitar. Sounds a bit like Pigs on the Wing from Pink Floyds Animals (3*). White & Blue is more of a long one again but quite different from the previous few, more laid back almost a long ballad. Good song (3,5*). Dolls is a multi part epic, the longest of the album consisting of 6 parts in total clocking almost 17 minutes. A great finale of an impressive album (4,25*).

Maybe it's slightly rounded up but it's a well deserved 4 stars nevertheless. A great neo progressive jewel by a relatively unknown band proving that France is also an excellent prog country, one of my favourites actually. Where this album is concerned: highly recommended for Clepsydra fans and true neo fans liking the longer more symphonical stuff.

Review by progrules

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