SARABANDES

I think it is first useful to put this album in its context, that of the end of the 80th. What was the interesting thing that year in prog: in 1990? "1990" is precisely the title of an album that Solaris released at the same time. The comparison is not useless because it too suffers from the same typical defects. The main one being inadequate recording (egregious at the drums) and horrible keyboard sounds. If the beginnings of digital flattered certain styles of music, such as those in vogue in the 80s / 90s, for prog it was a real massacre! Admittedly, Ozric Tentacle was more suited to this change but I remain convinced that Sarabande by Minimum Vital is a largely under-rated album. The musical approach of this group is truly original. Like some before him (Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, etc.), they drew their inspiration from folk, more precisely from medieval Occitan music. This is what makes their originality. Another is that their music owes nothing to the 70ths. Minimum Vital comes from the Zheul post Magma movement, the one that flourished in France at the beginning of the 80s, their first production (Envol Triangle) attests to this. Sarabande is, without a doubt, the best that this group has produced. It distills music that is often energetic, with magnificent melodies and a clear guitar sound. The first piece begins with the accordion and ends with an excellent guitar solo, "Porte Sur L'été" offers a superb electro-acoustic piece, and on "Sarabande n ° 1" the duo of the Payssan brothers works wonderfully. "Cantiga De Santa Maria" is inspired by strangeness. Arrives the centerpiece of the album, "Sarabande n ° 2", with an excellent groove embellished with a jazzy break. On "Hymn and Dance", the catastrophic digital sound of the Rolland keyboard unfortunately spoils the intro but the rest is worth the detour and ends with abbey hearts.

As I said in the preamble, the sound is rather unpleasant and the entire recording is sorely lacking in roundness. Yet, and given the inconvenience associated with this disadvantage, this album is a great addition to any prog music collection.

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