GESTATION SONORE

One of those "legendary" French early 70's release from the no-less legendary Futura label (other releases include Triode and Travelling also present in our Archives), HCPLF's sole album is a very disturbing oeuvre that should deter most progfans from free-jazz and "musique concrete", being completely dissonant, atonal and downright obtuse. As their name might indicate (Catalytic Horde For The Apocalypse and their track titles (divided in four movements) Gestation Sonore (Sonic Birth if you wish), the acoustic quartet warned you ahead of time. So unless you are really masochistic (and it looks like I once was), you are well advised to stay away from this unless you like mid-70's Keith Tippett (from Ovary Lodge to his Mujician projects), or David Bedford's Star's End album.

The first three tracks are boring, chaotic, noisy, disjointed, there are moments when the music sounds descriptive, but it doesn't last more than a minute at a time. But just in case the first side was not enough and you wished to endure more sonic torture, you can actually flip the album over and enjoy another 20-minute epic of theirs. To be absolutely sure of the veracity of this review, I "indulged" into it. After all, I have paid the rental price for this rare vinyl. Cacophonous and unlikely to please progheads, even the most adventurous ones, such as me.