INCOHERENCE

This precise album is rather different from the usual Hammill album as it is a bit of a concept album with 14 tracks, but all presented as a whole and no (or little) sound barrier to separate them. One of the things that strikes most with this album is that the dynamic range and general tone are much more nervous than the early 90's albums he made, and musically this 00's period is also much more impressive fro progheads. One could even imagine him back in The Future Now or even In Camera albums. Rings a bell and raise your eyebrows in interest? Ya betcha!! This could be Hammill's most interesting (and most certainly his most challenging) album in over two and a half decades.

There is a passage that will make you think of Gog/Magog (the nightmarish section) on In Camera, there are moments where you could almost feel VdGG's paws if it was not for the stripped down line-up (the usual Jackson and Gordon, but no Potter) and a rather rejuvenated enthusiasm all make the album, the highlight of his recent discography (although I admit I have not heard every album). The conceptual lyrics concentrate on "the impossibilities of language", but I must say this is rather Incoherent a concept, especially when Hammill diverts the focus to Greece and Crete. Converse is one of the many highlights, but I pick this one over the others, because of its insistent violin providing a real tension.

If you are a neophyte to Hammill's recent discography, this is clearly the album you should start with, and even if you are a confirmed fan, this album should reconcile you with him after a clear "passage à vide" from the previous decade. Recommended!