Detailed Reviews [Seamus - 2006 - "Zealotry Sterbuchen Schizophrenia"]

SEAMUS is a sextet of J-M. Unglas on guitars and vocals, E. Lorien on guitars, B. Rossignol on keyboards, E. Debidinance on bass, C. Geiller on violin and S. Auger on drums, the first five musicians being Frenchmen, whilst the drummer is an Englishman. However their debut CD, "Zealotry Sterbuchen Schizophrenia", features also five guest participants (two female singers, one male narrator and two flute players), each hailing from a different country, some Asian ones included. The album contains fourteen tracks, precisely half of which clock in at two minutes on average, whereas almost all of the others range from six to fourteen minutes. In the great majority of cases, the shorter tunes strictly alternate with the longer ones, and unlike the latter rarely reveal a full-band sound. The title track and Tzen Gesepent both stand out for their female chorals, though on the latter piece the women sing not alone, but accompanied by congas. The largely acoustic Gorlitz 1941 and To Vap-3 both instantly bring to mind the concept of Chamber Rock, combining (seemingly incompatible) structures typical of both Classical and Avant-garde branches of Academic music, as also does one of the longer tracks, To Vap-2. On all the said tracks the music is beyond comparison and is highly expressive. Only the remaining three cuts from the first category, To Vap-1, Plillerling and Perte D, arouse associations with some other artists, namely Magma and Robert Fripp (think "Soundscapes"), bringing together fluid-yet-eclectic electronic passages with powerful, rhythmic drumming. The 6-minute Pilgrim Day is the same story overall. It needs to be mentioned that while the longer tracks all come with what I see as a fully-fledged lyrical content, the number of vocal sections is relatively small on each, most of those being largely instrumental. Unlike most of the said tunes, the remaining six ones are not without outside factors, which though is just merely remarked on, as most of those are just irresistible, the only exception to that rule being A. Frank. The only piece with the flutes at the fore, it would've been excellent as well hadn't its mid-section been overloaded with synthesizer effects. The longest two compositions, Zwichen Lacben & Trane and Random, both for the most part sound much like King Crimson's Discipline, just married with Mr. Dissonance:-), whose belonging to classic RIO is beyond question, though on the other hand the same King Crimson widely used atonalities and counterpoint melodies too - just recall their "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" for instance. In any event, that English band appears to be the primary influence on this recording, even though some of the others (Sieges Even in 1990-'91, Univers Zero, Pink Floyd and again Magma) from time to time overshadow it - particularly often on both Y and Pandora's Box. This CD is filled with dark complex music and comes highly recommended to anyone with a taste for genuinely adventurous Prog Rock.

VM: June 14, 2007