PANGAEA PROXIMA

New Avant Prog band from France, formed in 2009 through a collaboration of guitarist Franck William Fromy, coming from veteran noisy Avant Rockers Shub-Niggurath, and keyboardist Vincent Sicot Vantalon.Despite the presence of Fromy the main composer of music appears to be Vantalon and Unit Wail came to full circle with Emmanuel Pothier on synthesizer, Sebastian Acre on drums and Adrian Luna on bass.However, during the long recording sessions of their debut, Acre left for Chile and he was replaced by Philippe Haxaire.With James Hugget providing bass lines in one track, the first album ''Pangaea proxima'' was eventually released in 2012 on Soleil Zeuhl.

Energetic and twisting, dark Avant Prog is Unit Wail's proposal on this release, fairly complex, extremely adventurous and very intricate stuff all the way.You should ask how such a group with two keyboardists on paper would sound, but the answer is easier than you should expect, as things appear to be pretty balanced in here, no apparent dual keyboard/synth deliveries, Vantalon and Pothier rarely get in each other's way.What's really unique is the constant presence of a Mellotron around, combine this with the haunting and robotic guitar plays of Fromy and you will often think that the ghost of old KING CRIMSON was present at the time of the recordings.Now, the album contains three quarters of an hour music divided in 12 short cuts and the material is trully compressed and dense in ''Pangaea proxima''.Complex rhythmic patterns, switching tempos and schizophenic bass work and drumming meet Vantalon's powerful Mellotron and the synth exercises of Pothier, stuff is usually fast-paced with rich and dynamic executions and a little atmosphere in some of Fromy's background, almost spacey solos.There is a certain French Zeuhl taste in the throbbing grooves, but this is more of an Avant Prog offering, comparable sometimes to YUGEN's most complex ideas.

Cool Heavy/Avant Prog with a certain direction and well-constructed pieces.Non-mystified should stay away, this one should be a great entry for all lovers of frenetic, complicated musical adventurues.Recommended.