PROGRESSIONS IMAGINAIRES

Named after the fluid in the space between the membranous and bony labyrinths of the inner ear, the psychedelic prog act PERILYMPH truly does aim to take you to space however its the outer variety that comes to mind rather than the inner with this band's retro sounding style that evokes a time when psychedelic rock was morphing into prog in the early 1970s. Initially the one-man band of the French born Fabien de Menou living in Berlin, the project has grown into a real band effort finding the project's style and sound evolving on each and every album. The latest album is PERILYMPH's fourth album since its 2017 debut album simply titled I (One). PROGRESSIONS IMAGINAIRE immediately evokes a psychedelic getaway with its colorful and trippy surreal album cover art.

Honestly, i've never experienced another album by PERILYMPH but this one is like going to an alternative timeline where Pink Floyd emerged in France rather than England. While the Floydian influences are clearly the #1 point of reference here with musical motifs that reference back to various chapters of Pink Floyd's career, the lyrics are sung in French and the music which is divided up into ten tracks with a running time of over 41 minutes is laced with other ingredients to totally throw you off. While the opening "Intro" paints a dramatic reference to Eloy styled keyboard excess, the first vocal track "Les Yeaux" sounds more like a Canterbury Scene track with keyboard runs that remind me of Supersister as does the vocal style however it doesn't take long for PERILYMPH to deliver a series of arpeggiated guitar chords that evoke various tracks on Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

The album flows brilliantly with every two tracks bridged by an interlude. These interludes will remind you most of classic Pink Floyd especially with the vocals at times however the keys evoke more of a Eloy vibe with oscillating trills and a heavier presence. "Loin De Bruit" ups the tempo with a staccato guitar stomping intro and then a somewhat jazzy return to the Supersister stylistic approach on the band's first two albums "Present From Nancy" and "To The Highest Bidder." The track also offers a lot of faster space rock styles more reminiscent of Hawkwind meets Eloy rather than Pink Floyd with a much more dynamic percussive drive than any of those bands actually. The keyboards are actually more like Ozric Tentacles than anything from the 70s. "Interlude 2" continues the Floydian guitar arpeggios which leads to the album's lengthiest track, the eight minute "Aventure" which sort of starts off like Eloy and then evokes "Hey You" from the wall before upping the rock guitar heft but then offers some of the most trippy French versions of Pink Floyd possible.

The album ends with two more interludes sandwiching "Un Instant Ou Deux" with a quickened guitar riff followed by bombastic synths and Hawkwind synth swirlies. Despite upbeat tempos, the undisclosed vocalist always is on mellow mode thus the album breezes by in a relaxed mode despite the music featuring varying styles of prog, mostly in the symphonic realms. Well, i find retro prog releases a bit hit and miss and blatant references usually rub me the wrong way but for some reason this album works for me mostly because it offers that alternative reality timeline approach much like a What If? episode of the Marvel animated series. In this case What If? Pink Floyd had emerged from France? Well, here's the answer! Overall the music is well performed with catchy melodies, feisty keyboard performances and a nice use of analog equipment to give it that authentic retro fitting. In short, pleasant and worth returning to.

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