EIDER STELLAIRE III

I would call this third and final EIDER STELLAIRE album a return to form after being disappointed with "II" which didn't sound much like Zeuhl or their debut. Thankfully they bring back the keyboards for this one and they bring in two players. Franck Coulaud plays only electric piano on here and he's the drummer for SHUB NIGGURATH. Also Isabelle Nuffer from ALTAIS adds a variety of keyboards. So right there with the electric piano and synths sounding like horns at times we get that sound back from the debut. That second record had no horns and just a smattering of acoustic piano from the drummer. "III" was recorded over three days at a studio in France in August of 1987.

"Nihil" should sound familiar as it's on the debut but this one is longer at almost 10 1/2 minutes. How about that fuzzed out bass before 5 minutes. I like the guitar and electric piano the most as this plays out. "L'encre Des Litanies" is an uptempo number with the electric piano, drums and bass leading the way with synths over top then the guitar joins in. It all stops after 5 1/2 minutes as it turns haunting with slow beats and eerie synths. Electric piano joins in the guitar. So good. The closer reminds me in style of the opener. This one is kind of jazzy and relaxed until it starts to pick up around 3 1/2 minutes in. The guitar starts to solo over top from 5 minutes to 6 1/2 minutes. Man I swear there are horns on here but none are credited.

A low 4 stars for this half hour of music but I feel they went out on a high at least.

Adding a chap from Shub-Niggurath and a keyboardist from the short-lived Altais band meant Eider Stellaire returned almost to the standard that sees their debut album as one of my favourites listed in the Zeuhl genre.

Nihil is a longer track than that of the same name on their debut and makes the most of the new band members, sounding completely different to the original really. Its actually quite upbeat for a good five minutes until a familiar fuzzy bass kicks in and its a lot more recognisable as Zeuhl. Similar on the second track, upbeat for half until suddenly slowing down and becoming more eerie. The third track starts as a slightly more energetic effort than a lounge jazz track, making the most of the keys to sound like a horn fanfare in parts. It gets a lot more energetic as it goes on Not much to go on to call this one Zeuhl but its still likeable. Shame they ended their run after three albums really.