MISTER GREEN

Named after a volcano on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, French band Taal from Poitiers appeared in 1992 as a trio led by drummer/singer Loic Bernardeau.By mid-90's they were joined by keyboardist Sebastien Constant and their sound obtained a more symphonic, proggy nature.The band, with Anthony Gabard on guitar and David Dosnon on bass, signed a contract with Musea and released the debut ''Mister Green'' in 2000, featuring plenty of guest musicians on female voices, wind and string instruments.

Taal ended partly with a semi-original sound, containing elements from Progressive Rock, Folk, Avant-Garde, Jazz, Soundtrack Music, Classical Music and Heavy Metal, a weird but tight mix of different styles based both on technique and atmosphere.What really helps the band is the presentation of several long compositions, where these styles can be mixed sufficiently and there is enough room for the music to breathe.Vocals are limited and ''Mister Green'' depends much on the instrumental exercises of Taal.The vast amount of the music is characterized by the quite heavy guitar work, including some very complicated moves and hard riffing, and the huge Classical elements delivered by the string and wind instruments on the release.Of course this description is rather simplistic.There is a fair amount of orchestral keyboards, delicate Ethnic-sounding flutes and even some jazzy guitar solos to be found throughout, eventually creating an album with a variety of atmospheres, a good balance between almost metallic moments and smooth passages and a good dose of complex breaks, professional interplays but also grandiose orchestral themes.

Very demanding and unusual musicianship with a quite haunting mood.If you like bands in the vein of THORK or SYRINX, ''Mister Green'' will not dissapoint you.Strongly recommended..3.5 stars.