Prog rock surprise of the year!
Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 09/22/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Nil is a French progressive rock band newly signed to Canadian label Unicorn Digital. This has been one of the biggest surprises of the year for me in that I've discovered an amazingly talented band with highly original songwriting, excellent female vocals, awesome instrumental power, and a fitting moody production. Driven by the multi-instrumentalist Maurin brothers, David and Samuel, the music of Nil is extremely dark and adventurous. This is one of those bands who are willing to change the form of progressive music, adding in influences from a variety of sources, yet never losing their core sound.
Novo Sub Solo is an amalgamation of dark symphonic prog and avant garde music. Cold acoustic guitars are invited into moody synth sounds that give a claustrophobic edge to the tunes and are developed into interesting melodies as they surround vocalist Roselyne Berthet's angelic voice. The 20-minute album opener "Le Lardien" is a good track to represent the sound of Nil. The song goes through many movements, never losing its stylistic cohesion. Acoustic guitars and floating Mellotron sounds set the tone and build a dense atmosphere. Two minutes into the song, the piece is intervened by amazing stick playing courtesy of Samuel Maurin and avant garde synth textures. Berthet sings in a soprano-like style and her melodies beautifully contrast the dark instrumentation. She likes to harmonize with the guitars, echoing the rhythms with wordless vocal melodies. The song leads into another acoustic break, only to be carried into a darker musical environment thanks to whimsical synth lines and a throbbing bass guitar that refuses to compromise with the rest of the instruments. A lengthy instrumental passage kicks in and it's filled with complex jazz drumming and fusion guitar which seems like it was recorded at one-go cause it so easily fit the flow. Things quieten down somewhere in the middle, where only Frank Niebel's cymbals ringing can be heard, though quite distant in the mix. Very slowly, Niebel begins to incorporate regular drum beats into the mix, but it's so slowly done that the atmosphere becomes increasingly arresting and the listener is already drawn in the chaotic flow of the composition. Along with the far-away tom beats, Samuel Maurin introduces his bass and the two instruments begin to function simultaneously, each passing second sounding more forceful. This goes on for nearly two minutes until David Maurin cracks the soundwall and plays a wild guitar solo. Note after note you are blown away and left physically exhausted - it's incredible. The last couple of minutes of the song find Benjamin Croizy and Samuel Maurin exchanging dissonant notes over a freestyle jazz workout.
Being a very busy tune, "Le Gardien" is followed by "Linceul", a shorter and more precise number. This track has vocalist Berthet back in full force, as it glorifies her voice with just atmospheric key notes. The cut has 30 seconds of silence planted in its outro that smoothly segues into the long instrumental "Deregenaration". Except for the brief vocal melody around the 9:00 minute point, this is another moody number puncuated by static piano tones, cathartic duels between guitar, bass, and Mellotron, and thick stick solos washed by analog synths. The band's love for minimalism in songwriting shows itself briefly three minutes after the first unison solo, and is immediately replaced by more jazz-inspired guitar work and crazy drumming. They even explore the depths of technical instrumental prog before wrapping things up with an immensely engaging guitar theme that soars on and on above a forlorn flute melody. "198" is another instrumental, but quite different from its predecessor. This track is heavier and more punishing. I love the way how the crunchy guitars complement Samuel's fretless bass and produce circular melodies while doing so. The madly fast tapping lick in the middle will have even the most dedicated tech metal fans drooling. However, this isn't just to show off their chops, as heard on the second half. The layered dissonant noises at the end really mess with the head.
The last two tracks see Berthet's beautiful voice return. "Abandon" has thick shades of synths with solid guitar-bass battery, a hypnotic piano melody that goes on forever; while the dark "Derives" begins with a stubborn bass solo that bleeds into a steady guitar cadence for three minutes, before letting Berthet complement everything yet with another rich vocal style. Her doubled-voice at the end is particularly beautiful because of the way the acoustic guitars let it come through. If you haven't heard of this band, start right here. Along with Leger de Main, this may be one of the finest prog rock discs with a female singer."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
