Seismic Cry is the brainchild of French-Canadian composer and song-writer Philippe Gaudet. "The Hopeless Flare" is his debut release. It blends elements of progressive rock, classical, and a touch of folk music.
The main component of the disc is the 4-part Saint-Laurent which clocks in at just under 27 minutes. The song uses French spoken word and long musical interludes to relate the tale of "The Empress Of Ireland"; a ship which sank in Canadian waters in 1914.
Acoustic guitar, recorder, glockenspiel, spoken word, and chanted vocals merge in a soft symphonic mixture, which brings to mind the works of Mike Oldfield and new age artists like Gandalf.The prose is very poetic and evocative. The closing Mille Reves is particularly stark and haunting; written, it would appear, as a lament for the victims of that fateful ship. The following number , Sharing A Life, sounds like it was inspired by Canadian poet and icon Leonard Cohen. A deep male voice, with female backing vocals, sung in English, paint a melancholic portrait of love lost. The track closes on a heavier tangent with some tasty lead guitar riffs and solid drumming. A mystery , 2 minute acoustic guitar number segues into Remembering Abby. This is a fairly straight-forward ballad where more female vocals are showcased. Wonderland follows in a similar style.Once again, acoustic guitar and female vocals are front and center. A well-crafted, yet slightly bland number. The album closer is Flash. It's an uptempo number where male and female lead vocals mesh together in a rythmic cadence over some solid bottom-end and fuzzed out guitar. The track shows us another side to the band and is a good change-of-pace song which may have been better utilized right after the epic number, to give the disc a better balance.
A decent effort which will please those of you looking for melancholic music which is well crafted and executed. Not to all tastes, but I firmly believe that there is a market for this genre out there.
Track Listing:
- Saint-Laurent: (a) Derniere Ouverture(6:27) (b)Chambres Musicales(5:32) (c)Pointe-Au-Pere(6:56) (d)Mille Reves(7:23)
- Sharing A Life (7:05)
- Remembering Abby (5:03)
- Wonderland (5:45)
- Flash (4:00)
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