AN DOUAR HAGUS AN SPEIR

While not a big P progressive album, TORNAOD's debut is a jarringly mature Celtic rock offering with enough hints of the transformations to come to effectively explode any illusions of convention. The simple transposition of two letters in their name cogently conjures their off- kilter turbulence.

The opening notes of "Al Labous Marv" recall hypnotic sequences by STEVE HACKETT era GENESIS, and vocalist Boucherifi Kadiou can play atmospheric as here or oh so earthly in the bi-polar effervescence of PlinnTamm Kriez and its successor. One lesson TORNAOD has learned, judging from the latter, and imparts is that repetition and insistence are more entrancing and less irritating in a vocal rock context than in a strictly folk setting. This is especially so when accompanied by flourishing pipes and flutes, and "Son 'vit Ur Bed Nevez" is another such highlight. ALAN STIVELL's early rockers on "Chemins de Terre" and his live albums are appropriate signposts. "Paddy's Lamentation" is one of the less doctored trad styled pieces, reminding me of the great SILLY WIZARD, right down to the ANDY M STEWART influenced vocals. "Desert of Soul" sounds like it could have been from a DAN AR BRAZ studio session in the 1980s, mysterious and sinister, with the strummed acoustic guitars and tin whistles shrouding the message while simultaneously trumping its significance.

TORNAOD insists on an "epic" even at this early date in the form of "Tir Na Nog" but it really just strings together a few shorter pieces that are ironically among the weakest on the disk. Still, this is an appealing first step that straddles the resplendently open borders of Celtic, folk, rock and progressive music.