DRIFTWOOD

"Driftwood", the fourth opus of the German group Deafening Opera, is also my first encounter with the production of these five musicians. And I must say that I was far from expecting what I was going to listen to: for a band classified in heavy prog, this album is everything... but heavy!

After a brief musical introduction vaguely orientalizing ("Murghab Morning"), the album opens with a singular piece ("25.000 Miles") carried by a piano with furiously jazzy accents. Moritz Kunkel signs there a beautiful performance, in particular with a descent of some notes which returns like a leitmotiv and gives to this piece a singular color and a strong identity.

"Snowman's Meadow" features the bass of Christian Eckstein, often accompanied in unison by the guitar of Thomas Moser. Nothing very surprising for a deliberately funky track, even if the rhythm remains rather heavy. Adrian Daleore develops here all his talent as a singer, accompanied by perfectly mastered vocal harmonies.

We were desperate to hear the guitars in the foreground... here they are finally with "Outlaw Feline". Country atmosphere from the first measures of this complex and rather successful piece which ends on a rock part that we would like to be longer.

The album continues with "As Night and Day Collide", a rather conventional ballad whose only interest lies in the quality of the vocal harmonies.

"Farewell Kiss" is a piece all in nuances which oscillates between country ballad and blues. Note that the vocal section receives here the reinforcement of Alexandra Stovall.

As soon as the introduction riff of "Man and Machine", we feel the potential power of this seventh track which is not without reminding some compositions of the French band Nemo. But alas, hampered by the omnipresence of the vocals, the more progressive track of the album never reaches the expected climax.

The album concludes with an ode to the stones of the road. Once again, and perhaps once too often, the vocals alone drive the course of this final piece.

In conclusion, here is an album which has the defect of its qualities, with its lines of song as beautiful as invading. The band shows us the extent of its musical culture through the various ambiences, but the whole is singularly lacking in unity and power. However, I give it three stars because of the presence of some beautiful successes in the first rank of which is "25.000 Miles". Now I just have to listen to the band's previous albums, which will perhaps allow me to understand why it has been classified as heavy prog.