EROS

Dün's Eros is an album that has truly changed my life. This album is an absolute Zeuhl masterpiece and is one of the if not the greatest Zeuhl albums of all time. I first heard Eros about a year and a half ago when I had just gotten into prog, and I was not ready for it yet. I was disgusted and reluctantly made my way through the album. Fast forward a year later and after expanding my eclectic prog tastes, the album resonated with me a little more. I wasn't totally in love with it yet, but after about 3 or 4 listens, I knew it was going to be one of my favorite albums ever.

The album opens with the explosive "L'Epice", a wonderful track with epic percussion and guitar work from Alain Termolle, and Jean Geeraerts. The song begins with a massive drum roll, followed by the flute, xylophone, and guitar madness. It has a few jazz/avant-garde pockets that are complemented nicely by Geeraerts' guitar soloing, and some other melodic guitar sections that sound really unique and nice. The time signature and time feel throughout the song are constantly changing (as with the rest of this album). The latter half of the song goes into a synth and keys-driven riff that has almost all members of the band solo over. Great track and a great opener to a great album that shows the stunning musician.

The second track "Arrakis" is my personal favorite off of the album. A hauntingly beautiful piano-driven track with various flute overtures, the song contains two main movements, the first half and the second half. The first half is a melodic masterpiece, during which keyboardist Bruno Sabathe holds a consistent D Note for 3-4 minutes while flutist Pascal Vandenbulcke (also the writer of the song) and Geeraerts both extensively solo of the underlying piano track. After the outstanding beginning, the song picks up, and so does the tempo. The synth takes over and it stretches on for the remainder of the track with various solos, interludes, and adaptations including a drum/percussion solo that goes on for about two minutes. The thumping, fast-paced bass line from Thierry Tranchant carries the second half of the song.

Moving the side two of the album, Bitonio opens with a xylophone note repeating, which is overlayed with guitar, flute, and piano notes repeating. After a rhythmic build-up with very odd time signatures and accents, the song is introduced to its main piano riff and builds from there. Astonishing flute and guitar from Vandenbulcke and Geeraerts complement the song as it shifts from the main riff to an ambient section, and back to an explosive variation of the main riff. The song then slows down for a melodic section which is broken by screeching guitar and again brought back into a plethora of crescendos, variations of the main riff, and synth ambiance. Towards the final stand of the song, voices enter and a massive crescendo ends the song abruptly.

The fourth and final track on the album is the title track "Eros," which is also the longest track on the album clocking in at 10:30 about. The beginning of the song is dominated by synth and flute-driven licks, and occasional drums as the main riff slowly build with eerie synths from Sabathe. Steadily, the different instruments build on the riff and begin to come together as the synths turn to piano. The volume begins increasing at around the 4:30 mark, and the riff sets in. Epic flute, xylophone, and guitar picking pick up and a synth solo begins. Thierry Tranchant's bass seems to have a phaser on it at this point which adds to the established Zeuhl atmosphere of celestial noises. As a flute lick from "Arrakis" come in, the song turns to a new rhythmic section during which voices begin to chant "EROS EROS EROS EROS.." The ending of the song is a chilling nursery rhyme-sounding bit from a musical box, which truly encapsulates the eerie beauty of the album in just a few notes. A fitting ending to a wonderful album.

The bonus tracks from the 2012 reissue by Soleil records include a new song called "Acoustic Fremen" which is a soundtrack-Esque acoustic guitar and flute song written by Geeraertes, Vandenbulcke, and Philippe Portejoie, a saxophonist who only appears during the bonus tracks. The other bonus tracks include two early demos of "Arrakis" a demo of "Bitonio" and a demo of "Eros."

This 1981 magnum opus of Progressive Rock is truly a wonderful piece of music. It is really a shame that a band with such immense talent only made one album, but unfortunately, this was the case more often than not with the late seventies/early eighties bands from the international community. This album is an easy 5 stars, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves high intensity, high velocity, yet melodic and ambient music.