ESCAPE TO HORIZON

Ocean swells and thunderous waves crashing against the battered coast, Escape to Horizon entices the listener into a musical adventure that has deep symphonic elements mixed with lush electronics on the opener "Aquatic Fiction", providing guest fretman Roine Stolt to sweep as only he can across the wide sonic expanse in a series of extended blistering solos. Leader and keysman Laurent Simonnet's ivory pastels delve deep into the synthesized realms of space maintaining the tempo dreamy and surreal, zippy Moog salvos to boot. "Ilona" does sound very close to classic Tangerine Dream, sequencer- heavy as it is, a crying newborn interjecting between the sweeping synths, the mercurial sound pinnacles and the booming walls of symphonic power are slowed down by a lush acoustic guitar from guest George Pinnilla. Mellow fellow, this Simonnet! "From Here to Infinity" is clearly a space rock classic (NASA voice effects and all), a sincere piano sets the tone for another Stolt masterstroke, a platform where the Swede can really stretch out his considerable skills, in connivance with Simonnet's battery of synthesizer solos. Yeah, the drums could have been meatier but the overall playing begs forgiveness. This a fascinating Floydian track that has a soaring guitar solo for the ages, huge, wide, long and utterly painful. "The Dreaming Zone" is slightly more obscure as the title implies, an orchestrated piece that shimmers with droning sweeps and pervades within the mellower regions of prog, close to some Eloy interludes with those huge synth barrages we all know and love. Very tasty indeed! Minimum Vital's Jean-Luc Payssan is featured on acoustic guitar, decorating "This Mystic Theme" with appropriate elegance , a pastoral delicacy that is almost crystalline and a gentle lilt that exudes a certain bliss (an orgasmic synth blast seals the deal) while electric guitarist Patrice Barret tosses in a few furious licks à la Christian Boulé (slithering little rays of aural lightning). Fascinating! The saturnine "Past to Present" just slides in unmolested, Barret raging beastily in a fine Floydian style (perhaps explaining why his name is Barret! Just missing one T) that will appeal to many fans of psychedelic space rock. The 10 minute + "Bridge of Souls" keeps the pace panting in the same direction, aiming for some unseen horizon as Payssan's lovely acoustic guitar dances with Barret's electric axe, two souls perfectly entwined and enamored. Suffice to say that all the guitars truly outshine the otherwise cerebral keyboard work and help in enjoying this great unknown piece of space prog. Again as with most albums of this genre, one will find this perfect love/sex soundtrack music, as both the feminine and masculine sensibilities are catered to.

No doubt that the presence of a real professional prog drummer would have christened this as a pentagon jewel but it can only really deserve 4 leaf clovers.

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