APRÈS LA CHUTE

CHRYSALIDE (what a fantastic name for a band!!!) come from France and Apres La Chute is their first release. Like most people, I have discovered their music online, through their personal website. All three of their albums are free for download at the time these lines are written. The term 'prog folk' possibly represents their sound better than any other prog genre. Like in all their albums the music is dominated by acoustic guitars and melodic vocals. Although in French (I clearly don't understand a word!!!), the vocals are sung in a charming way including both male and female voices.

To my ears there is something straightforward with this release: there is NOTHING bad with the music, the guitars, the production (although the latter could be improved) and at the same time there is NOTHING great with this album. From the beginning to the end, the record flows in a standard motif, while the absence of various instruments does not assist in giving a different 'spice' to the sound, save for some cello intervals. On the other hand, there are some impressingly beautiful melodies at specific points but they are blended together with the rest - when you have finished listening there is not much left that would make you spin the album again and again; apart from curiosity of the strange melodies and the dark moods.

It also seemed to me that 59 minutes is a bit too long - it makes the album sound even more indifferent, adding to the monotony created by the constant acoustic guitars/vocals approach. To some, however, the long compositions with dark intervals might make the record sound more progressive. I could not possibly pick out any highlights as this sounds like a continuous story with similar tempos. One thing I really enjoyed is the dark French vocals and maybe this proves appealing to the non-speakers. To be fair, this is not a bad release, but there is a lot of room for improvement - also something tells me that it will mostly appeal to fans with specific tastes in prog.