LIVE SURANNÉ

Julian Julien of Fractale contacted me along with several other progarchives reviewers to solicit our opinions on this debut release by the band. For my part, I'm favourably impressed (and I'm not just saying that because they flattered me with the invitation to review their music - Nurkostam were the last group who asked me to review their stuff and I was far from positive about their output). When the opening track started I thought this had been misfiled - the musical style presented sounded to me a lot like straight jazz. But as the composition progressed I noted a mysterious, dark presence lurking in the composition, as well as a few foreboding rhythms that put me in mind of Magma. The second track, with its psychedelic freakout opening, cemented the connection still further.

What the band have accomplished is to produce a hybrid progressive fusion/Zeuhl style of music based almost entirely on brass instruments; whilst some synthesisers can be heard here and there, at other times the only accompaniment to the six (!) brass players the band brings to bear is drummer Benjamin Vairon. But with six different varieties of brass instruments being played by a range of talented performers, the sound of the group is a lot more diverse and versatile than one might expect. This brief live EP is a fun listen which has made me appreciate just what is possible with the approach Fractale have chosen, and I eagerly await more from this innovative and novel grouping.