PARADE

With their third album, Tiemko once again managed to create an outstanding piece of music, which could be easly considered a "masterpiece of progressive rock music". The band seems to have taken every great element of thier previous albums, and also add some new flavours to the formula to make something really special - thus "Parade" was born.

I'd say this is the most peaceful and calm Tiemko album (not counting "Ca Tourne"), yet it still remains quite bombastic and majestic. The sound remains very electronic: the album is ruled by dense synthesizers, a colourful guitar and great drums (switched to vibraphone at times). This release reminds me a bit of the Miriodor's spirit, which comes from mixing uneasy atmospheres with dynamic and quirky avant-prog. There's a lot of grotesque here as well.

The album starts with an absolute killer "Le Retour du Hero". What a bomb! A very powerful track, with magnificent, weird melodies and thick keys layers. The intense drumming should be noticed as well. To this day, it remains my favourite Tiemko's song, and one of my favourite avant-prog tunes in general. "Parade" is... well, it surely sounds like a parade (a surreal one, I might add!). Very majestic and tame. Three melodic instruments (guitar, vibraphone, synth-trumpets) exchange their dialogues, as the main theme marches on. "Copie Blanche" starts off quite mystically, grows slowly to the point in which the guitar takes over and delights us with a wondeful soloing over dreamy neo-prog synths and bombastic drumming. Man, Remy Chauvidan truly is an out of this world guitar beast! "Spirale" is a drumless track, which starts heveanly, then gets ultra crypticall. This one has a very experimental vibe to it. "Good Bye Mister Prog" is another fast and quirky tune, with constant time singatures changes. Lots of weird synths as well. "Vaine" and "Taille One" are both rather calm tracks. The first one is basically a relaxing jazz-fusion (something you'd listen to while having a drink at a golden beatch). The second one is more mysterious and keyboard-based, but gets a bit oriental too. "Moment" seems to be a little baroque-like introduction with string pads and splendid acoustic guitar. And finally comes "Hymne", which starts off with classical strings. After three minutes the madness starts to grow, as the band once again unleashes its magic. It really sounds like the whole album was compressed into one composition: majestic guitars, weird keys, agressive drumming and little vibraphone beats. Great!

So, as I said, Tiemko once again created an undeniable masterpiece. Another wondeful, and sadly forgotten gem which represents originality, sophisticated composing and unbelievable musicanship (you can easly say these guys were great frends). For those who spend their lifes on a brave quest of discovering adventorious and uncompromising music - this is A MUST for you. 5/5