Moving in the sounds of
ASTRA, Genesis, Camel, King Crimson and White Willow, it’s hard to imagine
following into the footsteps of the vintage Progressive Rock sound and
capturing the essence of the 1970s. But for Julien Gaullier, who composed the
music and wrote the lyrics along founding Spleen Arcana, his voice resembles at
times Andy Latimer as if he has given the torch to him and is very proud of
what he is doing and capturing the sounds of the golden-era of the progressive
rock genre like a flaming fire.
Spleen Arcana has been
around for five years and its one of the most up-and-coming trio groups that
really show the essence and the vision like a flower opening to reveal its
glory for the sun to rise and shine. Their new album, The Light Beyond the Shades, is almost like a trip back in time and its very elevating, exploring, spiritual and atmospheric. And while this is my introduction to
Spleen Arcana’s music, I have to say I’m completely blown away from what I’m
hearing from start to finish.
You can feel the vibration
of the psychedelic and progressive sound of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s with the
opener, Erin Shores, as the band go
into work. Julien has a soothing vocal and he gives a lot of ideas to have a
calming vibration as he plays both the instruments including Guitar, Bass,
Keyboards, Bodhran, and Mandolin while David Perron plays drums and background
vocalist Marie Guillaumet lends a helping hand to Julien.
At times, the track while it
reminds me of the Mirage-era of Camel
and bits of the obscure Welsh Prog group, Blonde on Blonde from their Rebirth sessions, the guitar and the
Mellotron shine through into the clouds and moments of the Hammond Organ comes
in handy to give it a shining momentum on the solo work between the two
instruments (Guitar and Organ) as they play the melody as if it’s a
spellbinding combination and knowing that its capturing the emotional
boundaries of fantasy throughout the lyrics.
The electronic and
captivating touches on Fading Away,
has more of a futuristic surrounding and dealing with the loss of a loved one
or a friend that has passed on, but the memories of him/her has them in their
mind and knowing they haven’t forgotten them. However there is some wonderful keyboard and
classical guitar touches on there that gives it a relaxation as Julien and
Marie help out on the vocalization in the midsection and then the harder edge
comes in on the rhythm section on guitar and drums as it goes into this homage
to Bigelf that is a marching beat combining the classical mix as everything is
combined into one.
The closing 24-minute epic, Memento Mori, begins with a mellotron
string atmosphere that is almost straight out of the 1999 film, The Virgin
Suicides for the first minute and eighteen seconds before Julien’s voice comes
in. There are some mind-blowing unexpected yet out of the blue with
jaw-dropping moments in the passages that is on this piece. There are elements
of Heavy, Space, Symphonic, Rock Progressivo Italiano, and Melodic structures
that are in this finale and Spleen Arcana show a lot of gratitude here in this
composition.
This is my eleventh time
listening to The Light Beyond the Shades
and I’m completely hooked into the world of Spleen Arcana’s music. And for me, while
this is my introduction to the band’s music, I had a real blast listening to
this and I can’t wait to see what Julien has up his sleeves for the near
future.
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