Yang: Designed For Disaster

Record label bio's, are they worth reading anymore? In all honesty I find them in the main to be a difficult read. I understand that the band/artist have their product to sell and of course their ideology behind the recordings etc, but I really do prefer to use the old adage `Let the music do the talking`.

I started reading the promotional blurb for this, the bands fourth album but decided to just get on with listening to the album itself, and what we have here is a decent piece of European Art/Prog Rock.

Album opener `Descendance` has all the hallmarks of late 70`s Utopia and is very tastefully done too. `Collision Course` takes a left turn straight into the Jazz Fusion arena and again is a well played, cohesive number.

As the album progresses it’s evident that the band, led by Frédéric L'Épée have taken on board a lot of influences and have rather intelligently moulded them into something really quite original. There`s the jarring `Disentropy`, with its minimalist Jazz leanings, `Words` which comes across like something akin to what Nine Inch Nails might attempt, whereas `Flower You` with its delicate melancholic feel couldn’t more different.

There`s a flow to the whole album, which indicates that a lot thought went into the running order too, as the following track `Unisson` works perfectly, with once again displaying a deft touch with the overall ambience of the track. The 10 minute `Migrations` holds the attention throughout, with its clever hybrid of Genesis in their more pastoral moments, coupled with a more straightforward rock approach.` La Voie du Mensonge` hints at the early works of PorcupineTree and is an exercise in producing soundscapes rather than a typical song structure, and the album is neatly wrapped up with the fairly minimalist `Despite Origins`, which once more delves into the world of Fusion with excellent results.

A really good album one that, at times challenges the listener which is no bad thing, but going back to my earlier point of record company bio`s. Sometimes I wished the record companies would just pull back a little on the hyperbole and let us make our own minds up!!

Track Listing
1. Descendance
2. Collision Course
3. Disentropy
4. Words
5. Interlude �" Golem
6. Flower You
7. Unisson
8. Interlude �" Echo
9. Migrations
10. La Voie du Mensonge
11. Interlude �" Décombres
12. Despite Origins

Added: April 7th 2022
Reviewer: Malcolm Smith
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 520
Language: english

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