LE DÉSERT NOIR

After six years of silence, Markusfeld comes back in 1977 for a third album with "Le désert noir", in full prog's fall. Probably due to the time influence, the sound is far squarer than on its debut albums. On another hand, the production is excellent and so the sound's very good. The music features excellent guitar as usual, with much wha wha. There's always a very slight eastern flavour in Markusfeld's acoustic guitar, like in the beautiful opener "Le désert noir", an invitation to travel, which also features beautiful female background vocals. "Atlantis rock" is a catchy tune, with a repetitive melodic pattern repeated endlessly. "Bulgaro-feld" and "Hot love" progress more with a funky jazzrock feel at times. To sum up, this album is unequal, with more or less inspired moments, sometimes too repetitive, but always exhibits a high level of technical mastery.