RITUEL

The first part if the album is started by a tryptic which gave this album its name. The first part of this tryptic is one of the greatest prog track i heard for a while. Well influenced by the bolero of Ravel, this instrumental is building up gradually to offer sumptuous solo of oboe, bassoon, keyboard etc...The Quality of the rest of the album stays really close to this opening. The album is full of beautiful melodies played one after the other and well executed by the various imstrumentst.oboe, viola, harp, clarinet and more.

Jean Pascal Boffo, guitar virtuous, is far from showing off here and seems to prefer to leave his companions on the front stage and only appears for few solos and beautiful part on the acoustic guitar.

The album is mostly a symphonic instrumental album and the voice only appears on one track, the zeulh inspired «Andhowande».

This album is sadly not very popular in the prog community but i would strongly recommend everyone to give this album a chance.

It's always fun to dive into new artists and find new nuggets. This nugget from 1988 (!) is pure prog with long instrumental symphonic passages mixed with slower, more pastoral sections featuring flute and other winds. The music flows with epic grace and stands toe to toe with the best prog out there. The discerning ear can definitely tell this album is from the '80's but it's not overly saturated sterility. This is organic prog that holds the listener and engages until the very end. The first three movements of the title track are a certain highlight, the first side is nearly flawless and the five minute closer "Sacrifice" is very potent as well, my favourite track on a killer record.

I'm not ultra familiar with this artist but I'm looking forward to becoming more acquainted over the years. Most of his releases aren't pure prog, but on Rituel Prog fans of all kinds will find a lot to like. 4.5 rounded up because it's from the eighties - this album is worthy of high esteem