| Band
Members: |
Jean-François Désilets / lead vocals,
six string electric bass, taurus moog pedals, midi pedals, twelves
strings acoustic guitar |
Denis Jalbert / six string acoustic
& electric guitars, backing vocals |
| The
Review |
It’s always an interesting experience
when you put a CD on the player thinking you know what to
expect and then you’re hit with a paradigm shift. The sounds
you expected don’t unfold the way you anticipated and yet
the listening experience turns out to be even better. That’s
what I went through with the new Hamadryad CD Safe in Conformity.
This is the second release from a Montreal, Canada band that
is now reduced to a four-piece. ***
Hamadryad’s roots date back to the
mid nineties, but it wasn’t until 2001 that they released
their first CD entitled Conservation of Mass. Since then vocalist
Jocelyn Beaulieu has left the band choosing to pursue different
musical path. Hamadryad chose to remain a four piece consisting
of Jean-Francois Desilets (bass, lead vocals), Denis Jalbert
(guitars, vocals), Yves Jalbert (drums, vocals), Francis Doucet
(keyboardist). And what a difference changing the lead vocals
has been, not only on the vocal sound but also on song composition.
Instrumentation remains much as it was on the first CD, including
Taurus bass pedals, Hammond, Mellotron and Minimoog for some
terrific analog sounds although this time around the keyboards
are more up front and blend nicely around more prominent acoustic
guitar work. ***
Work on the new album started with
the band simply getting together in the studio to reflect
on what shape their sound would take but as they worked through
some new ideas, these “work” sessions quickly developed into
full fledged musical concepts and a clear direction. Where
as the first CD was closer to the harder, almost prog-metal
spectrum, with Safe in Conformity, Hamadryad have moved more
into the world of acoustic symphonic progressive rock, and
to my ears it sounds great. As an aural bookmark think of
early Genesis which given the tone of new lead vocalist Desilets
is right on the mark. His vocal approach easily reminds one
of Peter Gabriel. Two of the tracks, “One Voice” and “Polaroid
Vendetta” do hearken back to the band’s earlier more aggressive
sound and play more as prog-metal than anything else on the
CD. As such they stand out in an odd way to my ears. I actually
had to check the liner notes to see that these weren’t some
kind of mistake. On these two tracks the guitar takes centre
stage and keyboards become virtually invisible. ***
On the compositional side most of
the CD’s eleven tracks unfold smoothly running from one tempo
to the next, sliding from one emotional feel to another. The
band’s studio maturity is clearly evident. The songs run from
just over five minutes to a few in the seven minute range
and the longest “Omnipresent Umbra” clocking in at just over
eleven minutes featuring a couple a great musical themes building
in intensity. In total there’s just under an hours worth of
great music here. ***
Sophomore recordings can be quite
a challenge, more-so when a group goes through some dramatic
line-up changes. I’m happy to report that Hamadryad have not
only weathered that storm, but with the stellar work on Safe
in Conformity they’ve taken their musical craft to an exciting
new level. This is a great sounding release and fans of symphonic
prog would do well to snatch up a copy. ***
|
