MUSIQUE POUR L'ODYSSÉE

Art Zoyd's second album picks up where the debut had left things to rest and is seen as their crowning achievement by many specialists. For this album, the group is joined by two members of Univers Zero, Daniel Denis on percussions and Michel Berckman's on oboe and bassoon.

The sidelong title track is an impressive, solemn, very tense piece of music with war-like ambiances, where once again main composer Hourbette is alternating Bartok, Stravinsky with later XXth century modernists (not quite Stockhausen but there are moments where atonality is very close), but the results are again not far away from Univers Zero, which is hardly surprising since both Denis and Berckmans are in the fold. Great dynamics, sombre ambiances, an almost totally acoustic sound (bar the electric bass), Kobaian-like tribal chants are on the main tour programme of this musical Odyssée.

On the other side of the album is Zabotzieff's first composition for the group and it is clearly homage to Magma (referring to the poem Terre on the back of one of their early albums), as in the second movement he grabs his bass guitar and gives one enormous bass guitar thrashing that can only make you think of Magma bass-thumping. Lettre D'Automne is more reflective and seems to be an answer to Stravinsky's Sacre Du Printemps (Spring's Rites).

Certainly as good as its predecessor, this album is yet another outstanding album that every classical music fans must hear, yet Art Zoyd's work is hardly easily accessible, and is only recommended to RIO and Zeuhl fans.