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Arcansiel - Hard Times CD (album) cover

HARD TIMES

Arcansiel

Neo-Prog


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3 stars 30 years after their last album, on a neo prog movement dear to Marillion, IQ... This group is reborn from its ashes, well have the ashes been cold since time!?

1. Too Late for the flowing title, just a hushed, soft, melodic prog rock sound, the Genesisian keyboard with the Italian tessitura, more fruity; break for barely 6 minutes on bright, airy synths, heavy bass and it starts again, like in the 80s, yes very beautiful, but it was 30 years ago, and we have aged; too bad because Sebastiano releases a very beautiful guitar solo; the keyboard break clearly leans towards jazz-rock; piano, harpsichord, it's crystalline, melodic, it turns on a usual consensual pop rock variation; it's good but agreed; 11 minutes and the vocal feedback with a finally neo prog sound, more fleshy, heavy and with a vintage country air; 3 minutes of finale with the return of the grandiloquent Rondo sound and the orchestration that suits it; the more the musicians in fact, the less the chained breaks which are overflowing now, too late for that; too bad because the guitar is divine 2. Puppets and Puppeteers clean guitar and marillionian keyboard in a staccato; the voice pulls on a Vital Minimum with the very danceable rhythm, hold on to the vocals of Jethro Tull now; abrupt, romantic, depressive dark break, bringing musical warmth; the guitar solo on that of a Hackett with finesse; keyboard again and the vocal which lacks depth; yes if we compare to Marillion we are below for the debauchery of sounds piled up in a hurry; the finale with yet another keyboard rhythm and a final guitar solo

3. Heaven is Not Here with the flute and the chirping of birds for a major bucolic intro; calm, relaxation, we are far from the Italian rhythm, we approach the contemplative symphonic melody and 2'25 of pure happiness; paf a Frippian tablature, a Genesis keyboard for a quick note, the sound slows down phew we are there in the belly of the album with a well-characterized air between melancholic sweetness and Genesisian reverie; Marco plays the archangel, it's very beautiful; the calm air is very effective with this trumpet sampled in the distance, the drum roll soothes before an RPI guitar departure on the metronomic, predictable drums, which unfold without more; the reminiscences go as far as Focus, Santana or Return To Forever; solemn vocal finale which wakes me up, damn it was better without the voice, come on a little birds anyway, it's spring 4. My Old Same Mistakes ends with a Genesisian air... again yes we go further down the musical time scale, good that of the trio with the paw of Tony who guarded the boat as much as he could; vocal which borders on Phil's, yes whether we like it or not this sound is well done, well calibrated but lacks creation; a regressive sound whatever one says; festive fruity break, the sound of Arcansiel which suits them better and we return to the spleen atmosphere, hop piano jazzy break, here we go again, we get lost, too many breaks kill the breaks... save me, ah save mistakes I hadn't heard everything; Sebastiano's guitar does the job, Davide's keyboards intermingle for the pleasure of some, for the too full side for others; In short, 30 years is not nothing.(3.5)

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Posted Tuesday, April 2, 2024 | Review Permalink

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