CD Info

2011
Fakto Records / Belgium

13  Tracks

English Lyrics

What happens when you turn loose 20 or 30 of the finest musicians in Western Europe and tell the to "Get it on". Well, this is what happens, and if this doesn’t turn you from the face of eternal desolation, well, they might as well bury you now and not waste any more time. These are musicians from some of the top sounds around, both instrumentalists and vocalists, from Belgium, From France, from Italy, from Finland, from Spain, from Germany, and one from Middle Earth. Damn, this is Gothic, and this is music to turn loose the eternal realms of the Great Beyond and then some. Whatever turns your soul, you get it here; vocals, male and female, guitars from the heaviest axe men in Western Europe, keyboards to turn loose the gods of the underworld, drums from the darkest regions in Hell and a solid production effort that puts it all together.

Where to start? Where to begin? Well, what cha want to hear, dark, beautiful, profound, guitar driven, keyboard scorching, male vocals, incredible female vocals. . .it’s all here. And most of it overlaps; this is music that covers pretty much everything you like in contemporary music. . ah, without the rap, that is. They call it a Rock Metal Opera, and its thematic, which for the literary non-inclined means it has a point to it. And the point has to do with consciousness or, in this case, how to achieve it. There are 13 songs and each takes a different approach to things. And each does so with a different approach to the music. There’s a healthy dose of the Gothic and its many derivatives, black Gothic, symphonic Gothic, male and female delivered Gothic. But there’s also some strong progressive metal and a sprinkling of what might be called alternative, at least in the broadest interpretation. So, you get a nice mixture of musical styles, performed by a broad mixture of musical performers. Bernard Daubresse, who is the mastermind of the project, described how the selection of participants came about, "My first intention was to select people with adds on websites... but it really DOES NOT work. The best thing is to contact people that you think that will be great for the job. All they can do is to say "no" but you will earn a lot of time. For the next album it will be the same thing : I will contact some people and they will decide if they will be a part of the team or not." Consequently, much of the production was put together with people "mailing in" their parts, at least up to the final track. But Daubresse is responsible for the concept, and the writing. There was significant help in the musical component, and we’ll recognize some names there. Yves Huts, from Epica, was responsible for the orchestrations on most numbers. Others contributed instrumentally in their own areas of responsibility. And, there were some unanticipated outcomes. The first was the development of the Project Choir, the interestingly named Hangover Choir, consisting of all the performers who participated in the final selection on the CD as a group effort. The second was the formation of a new band based on the interaction between Project founder Bernard Daubresse and vocalist Kristell Lowagie. That band is Lovelorn who have recently released their début EP 'An Intense Feeling of Affection'.

The organization of the CD revolves around two separate components. The first 9 songs talk about life in all its complexities. We cover hate, we cover fear, we touch on love, and we give a little time to regret. There are songs about religion, there are songs about spirituality, and there are songs about death. And the musical vehicles that deliver these themes are as varied as the topics addressed. The final 4 tracks cover the Road to Consciousness; this is where we wrap up the business end of the trip, where we come to grips with the final adjustments and requirements, this is where we look back and try to put it all in perspective. And this is what the CD is about. But what a musical journey getting there.

The CD begins with something of a short intro, an oriental sound, almost like a sitar, with a soft spoken sound that sets the stage for the journey to come. That journey starts with The Middle Path, a metal rocker, again with that soft sitar sound in the background. The vocal is Kristell Lowagie, and the theme is death, the end of everything, the mortal conclusion. And Lowagie addresses the topic with questions:

Why
Do we live?
Why do we die?
To say goodbye
To all our friends?

This song, as with all the others, uses a combination of artists, no two songs are alike and no two sounds sound alike. The following song, Mirror Mirror, goes in a different direction musically, it utilizes both a male and female vocal, in this case Lauryn Gaet and Krys Denhez. Bernard Daubresse is heavily involved in this one, playing guitar and base. The orchestration is Epica’s Yves Huts. The theme here is trust, and the disaster that can result from it. The vocalists trade off lines and the chorus is especially entertaining, with a pulsating guitar, punctuated by the drums and the base. Daubresse shares that duty with fellow axeman Valery Granson here. During the bridge, those guitars take over with some searing solos that take your breath away. Lord, this is metal the way it’s suppose to sound, if you’re not moving on this one, call the morgue.

The fourth song is I am God. We go symphonic on this one, and God is nowhere to be found. The song will never sell in the Deep South, makes way too much sense:

I am God
God of Perdition
I will decide what’s good
And bad for you
I am your God
Follow the leader
I’ll be the shepherd through
The paths of hell

Again, we get a duel male / female vocal; Benjamin Albertani and Kristell Lowagie in this case.

There’s something of interest in each of the following front nine, you can pick and choose which appeal to your inner Goth. For me, The Wait, which is an interesting song to begin with, requires multiple spins. Mainly for the guitar work towards the end. Again its Daubresse, this time with another significant axe, Nico Claus. The guitar work on this production is some of the best you’ll ever hear. Absolutely top notch. Jennifer is another that fits this description. It tells the story of a fallen rock star, ties her to Michael Hutchence, Bonn Scott and Kurt Cobain. But it takes a haunting road to get there, again over a choir of crushing guitars, and in this song we get lots of them; Bernard Daubresse, Valery Granson, Eric Renwart and Yves Huts.

The Road to Consciousness begins with the 10th selection, Even a Rose. . . and it damn sure is a highlight. The vocals are presented by a trio of sultry lovelies, Laura Crowet, Jamie-Lee Smit and Lauryn Gaet. I’m most familiar with Jamie-Lee Smit, whose background includes time with Skeptical Minds and who now graces another stunning Belgium troop, Azylya. A review of their recently released EP Thanatos Insanity should appear on this site within days, soon as I finish writing this one in fact. Rose is the beauty of the CD, one of the finest songs I’ve heard in a long time. And, it introduces us to the direction required to achieve that final goal:

Even a Rose must hide from Winter
Even a star will die forever
Even the shade of light
Who never wants to fade away

Rose is followed by The Limbo, featuring Lenny Andrieux and Jamie-Lee Smit. This one provides the only extreme vocals on the CD, tempered by the lovely vocal of Smit. It’s a dark one, very little optimism here. The 12th selection is instrumental; The Choice seems to set the stage for a resurrection of sorts, a movement back to the possible, something to regain a little hope. And that hope is presented in the final selection, Consciousness. Certainly another highlight of the CD, this one features most of the vocalists, both individually and in a group, but only after the guitar players set the stage with a thrashing, screaming montage of heavenly delight. You just can’t get enough of great guitars and this is a moment to be remembered in Gothic lore. Think van Halen, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendricks and Jeff Beck in a room with time on their hands and solid inspiration.

Road to Consciousness is in a league of its own, this sort of thing just doesn’t happen very often, and we have to appreciate it when it does. I’m not sure about all the distribution channels, but it can be obtained here.

Don’t let this one slip by.

10 / 10

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