VERTIGES

GASPARD may be that wise old hermit, no, it's a recent band formed in 2017. GASPARD claims to be GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, NEUROSIS, MOGWAI, SWANS, SUNN O))) or RADIOHEAD, eclectic. Film scores like "Zelda", "Pan's Labyrinth" or "Lord of the Rings"; the post-rock, psychedelic, atmospheric and doom- depressive influence is here; in fact these young students are already composing on a future album and like to quote the cat's favorite reading from the cover: Requiem by Györgi Ligeti, all that to say that you have to open your chakras to read these "vertigo". Let's take a closer look at what this second opus is all about! "The language of the mountains" for a dark, psychedelic, unhealthy opening; a funeral march of evil beings who must not be named otherwise they will be invaded by nightmares for the night; a little monolithic THE GATHERING and a musical saw bring an incredible sound all decked out in metronomic percussions; it is heavy, the notes vibrate as if the ether darkens us with its abyssal wadding, as if the sounds engulf you with their notes in a schizoid space on the border of melancholy and hope; a nod to this start to the year that we would like to be more encouraging; sounds reminiscent of MOGWAI and the KAYO DOT in addition tortured even going to the first ANATHEMA in their extreme doom-prog vein with that end that chills the spine. "Héliopolis" and a post line that smacks of GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR or the MONOs; a little math- rock, post and psyche for a ballad in the depths of snowy lands; the guitars chat with each other repeatedly, leading to introspection and even meditation; monolithic spleen drum and guitar finale which then explodes like the first THE GATHERING, followed by the 2:27 plane with "Vertiges" and its dismal atmosphere, a little interlude even darker until the infrabasse. "Voyage in a draft" arrives with a playful, pleasant air; a bit of fresh and fruity stoner halfway through then a long explosive typical post-metal crescendo with the addition of saturated notes that can be unpleasant, testing your speakers and ears; sequence with "Cumulonimbus" on the intro then it goes on a good rhythmic post-prog-metal such as RUSSIAN CIRCLES or RED SPAROWES, strong and melancholic, on monolithic lengths amplified by Olivier's drums; the second third leaves more incisive sounds as if to give hope between a heavy, mischievous and subtle passage. This instrumental is by far the most representative of the group, the apocalyptic finale on tribal bass and spleen guitar brings a jubilant vibration. "Rain of light" and a little lull in this brutal sound world with an intimate musical line, the hope for a better world invades you, a little water, a few drops of psyche à la PINK FLOYD of the beginnings, MONKEY3, a bit of the very dark krautrock of TANGERINE DREAM bringing us back to POPOL VUH, to ASH RA TEMPEL for vintage cymbals, the rest very post-rock at the same time inclined to mix blackness with astonishing clarity. "Ascension" concludes this set with a fresh, creative air, a little vitality in this dark album doesn't hurt; a little color, well it's not "Apache" from SHADOWS but it's less dark than before; the guitars put their strings to work there to give a sensibility at the end of the album; all the dark, all the dark lived is just another nightmare; the finale returns to a meditative air, an ethereal spleen atmosphere, a contemplative crystalline guitar arpeggio for the end.

GASPARD has crafted an oxymoronic psychedelic doom-stoner rock album based on the contrasts of the legendary city of Heliopolis, the cover art explaining this anachronism well; the music explains the lands we risk exploring; the progression exists here especially in the monolithic sequels of S-F and horror films, of dreamlike, singular, strange post-rock.