FOL NAÏS

Here we have the third album from Anthony Béard (guitar, scream), François Mignot (guitar), Nicolas Bernollin (drums) and Benoit Lecomte (bass), following on from 2019's 'Pantophobie'. Yet again they refuse to sit happily inside any particular musical genre and even the record label asks the question are they math rock, noise, metal, jazz or something else, or all of it and more. I enjoyed their last album immensely so was looking forward to this one and am glad to say I was not at all disappointed. There is something inherently strange about a band who can pummel like Meshuggah, be insanely shred happy like Protest The Hero yet have the progressive inclinations of King Crimson and the off the wall avant garde of Markus Reuter, yet somehow it all works.

I am not surprised it took four years between the debut and the second album, and then four more between that one and this, as this is insanely complicated yet all four are linked in incredibly tightly. It is dense music, comes at the listener like a sledgehammer with changing time signatures and good use of light and shade to the heaviness is even more direct. This is an album which shows very much that they are determined to follow their own path as there is no doubt the sheer heaviness of what is on offer will alienate many progheads while the innate complexity and progressive style will do the same to many metalheads. However, for those of us who happily straddle both camps then this is a delight from beginning to end. It does need to be played loudly to get the most from it, as this is not music to be sat and played delicately, but that is not an issue at all. Challenging and in your face, this is powerful stuff.