BEYOND THE VISIBLE LIGHT

It is not always easy to find the good ship in the ocean that has become the world production of progressive rock : the music is so democratized that good musicians armed with solid musical culture and luggage are many nowadays. Sometimes we find a new and interesting group and the cruise is fine, sometimes we are mistaken and we quickly search for an emergency raft ! And sometimes we hesitate to take a boat and miss an opportunity to make a nice trip.

There are many groups that I discovered very late, thinking : "But how could I miss it before ?"

I would probably have not discovered until many years this young American band with a strange and unpronounceable name : Ovrfwrd. Fortunately, the voluntarism of its members and their eagerness to make themselves better known offered me the opportunity to discover a remarkable music with its inventiveness and its high level of elaboration and musicianship.

This music has complex structures. It is very demanding for the musicians. Entirely instrumental but so intense that it never lets the need of a voice emerge, it is constantly changing its rhythm, its tones and directions, intertwining themes with a high skill.

The excellent "The man with no shoes", best piece of this record in my opinion after two listens, represents perfectly this group. The music is often sharp, with an aggressive guitar and a powerful rhythm section, never repetitive thus, before finding calm and serenity on keyboards. Then the guitar itself becomes softer with some di Meola reminiscence maybe, allowing to appreciate the subtle and technical maestria of Mark Illang. And then the music starts again its fiery race?

The other pieces have a similar construction, alternating intense moments and appeasements. So, "Can We Keep the Elephant?" is a very strong and enthousiasting opening, but "Stones of temperance" is more impressive again.

One small mistake of youth that the 2nd disc of the group avoided and that we will forgive here : "the darkest star" tends to get lost in a deliberate and controlled confusion that should have lasted 4 minutes less.

Usually, when a record deserves (to my mind) between 4 and 4,5 stars, I put 4 and I won't change this logic way of noting. But I highly recommend this record to amateurs of complex music and high musicianship.

And their 2nd album looks more exciting again after one listening...