Parabole (now known as Kavalkad)

Band: Parabole

Nationality:Canadian

Genre: Art Rock

Links:
http://www.parabolerock.com/
http://www.myspace.com/parabolerock

Bio (based on info from site):

Parabole has been in existence in different forms, with a one year break here and there. The line up has varied from as many as 8 to the current three musicians. instruments have come and gone, but since 2006 Parabole is back to the power trio configuration of bass, guitar and drums, with guitarist and only member of the original line up Jonny Sénecal taking care of vocals.
Musically, the band claims to be in eclectic Art Rock area, with influences from all areas of rock: Ange, Porcupine Tree, and Live are mentioned as well as Rush, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden - and not to be missed: Harmonium. The influences are found in riffs, in song structures, and maybe also in the lyrics, which are - unfortunate for a lot of us - in French. It is a very melodic language and the band has a good vocalist, so it's not that disturbing
The band has released a demo EP in 2006 (available for $5 on CD, and available for listening on MySpace).

Line up:
Jonny Sénecal - Guitar, vocals
Éric Beaudain - Bass, backing vocals
Daniel Laflamme - Drums, backing vocals

Demo review:
The demo CD released in 2006 consists of 6 distinguishable, yet recognisable tracks - in other words, the band has a certain sound signature. Not surprising, given that composer and lyricist Jonny Senécal has been part of all band line ups since 1990. Still, it may be that the credits are not fully his, despite the not on the CD cover. Bass player Eric Beaudain lists Iron Maiden among his influences, and every once in a while I do hear guitar riffs that could have been devised by that six pack.

The opening track Par les yeux d'un enfant has a relaxed opening with a picked guitar and a nice bassline. The track, after the first verse, slowly moves into a more solid chorus. In this driven by a heavy guitar and a driving bass, while the drummer seems to be rather enjoying himself in the background. Jonny's voice shows a rather impressive range and is full of emotion - apparently Canadians that càn sing really exist.
Second track is Vénus, which is a short driving rock song. It's quite different from the rest of the demo, a bit similar to the way Hooks in you stands out among the other tracks of Marillion's Season's End album. Difference is that Vénus is a much better track, and probably also not as straight forward as the Marillion track. Very likeable, including the short, fast guitar solo 2/3 into the track.
T'oublier starts with a flute and guitar opening, accompanying a picked guitar. The track has a much lower tempo than Vénus and reminds me of some older French (or French Canadian) prog folk bands. The midsection of this track has a heavier guitar sound and fuller 'rock arrangement' than these bands usually apply though. The emotion of forgetting (oublier) determines the atmosphere of the track, including another great guitar solo.
After this, Mémoire a trésor starts with a guitar and drums intro. The guitar and drums drive the chorus and midsection, while the barely audible bass is doing something complementary in the background. I'm not sure if it's a mixing issue, but the bass only becomes 'visible' halfway through the track. Because of that, to me this is not the strongest track of the demo, but far from bad.
Douce Brise is a track sticks with me all the time, after a while I even started humming the intro. This intro reminds me of Wasted Years by Iron Maiden and the unexpected slow down in tempo right after it surprises me every time. The track is heavier than on previous one, bass shows some nice licks in between verses and the intro guitar riff happily returns a few times. As such, one that stick, with nice guitar and bass work. Jonny shows that he can sing and play riffs, but also delivers a nice solo - again.
Closing track of the demo is Ton Silence which again has an intro that sticks with me. This time it's a rather metallic guitar piece (it reminds me of an 80s metal band, but can't stick a name to it) followed by an atmospheric first verse. The (pre)chorus to this one is rather heavy, like the intro. The pattern of lower tempo, atmospheric verses with heavier choruses as applied on this track comes back in other tracks as well, but the pattern is applied in different ways every time. Nice guitar solo, yet again - and what's that bass doing in the background?.

Overall, my ears tell me they like what they hear, a lot. I haven't looked at the lyrics, but no doubt they're good - judging from the titles and my fairly limited knowledge of the French language. Production wise - it's a demo CD, but rather well mixed and produced. The fact that the band consists of only three instrumentalists (power trio of guitar, bass and drums) shows through in the mix, at times the bass is hidden in the background a bit too much for my taste. In the same arena, the band is considering the addition of keyboards, after meeting a keyboard player during the finale of the 2007 Musique Plus band contest they participated in. Some of the tracks could benefit from that - but the decision to not add a full-time keyboard player to the line-up may prove a wise one. At least, with that other Canadian power trio in mind....

On PA Unsigned Bands scale I'd have to rate this a 4 star demo: good addition to any collection of 'just wait until they get the chance to get professional' albums.


Edited by Angelo - December 21 2007 at 04:03

One small correction must be made to Angelo's post above : we are more a hard rock prog band than a prog metal band, as we really don't dabble in metal at all.

Hi Éric, I really appreciate your band, very good and the french language was a good touch. Well done. I add you on myspace. Check my post here on PA http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38026.
Eri

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