|
Cover |
Musicians |
 |
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Jo Douchamps : vocals
Alain Delsaux : electric and acoustic guitars, synth-guitar
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Jacques
Duchateau : bass and fretless bass
Marian Pawlik : drums
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Release |
Label |
Cat. N° |
Playing Time |
Rating |
|
2004 |
own label |
2212 |
49:00 |
8/10 |
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Website |
Contact |
Style |
|
http://www.thesilk.net |
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Silk |
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Review by |
Claude 'Clayreon' Bosschem
Translated by Jennifer Summer |
In spite of the efforts that Prog-nose
and Prog-Résiste have made in order to breathe new life into the
Belgian prog scene, there is still very little that the country has
to offer, especially if you compare it to the neighboring countries.
And you can’t blame that on the small size of the country because a
country like Holland is barely bigger. That’s why it’s even more
important to give young bands a chance. And Silk (formerly called
The Silk) is one of those new comers, but it’s not quite sure which
category they fit into. Even though they show some prog rock
tendencies, I’d still call it complex rock for now. It may be that
this will work against them in the short term since they don’t
really fit into a category and therefore may fall through the
cracks. But creativity and originality should definitely be
encouraged in a world full of monotony and commerciality.
Let’s turn our attention now to the beautiful artwork on the CD
cover, on the CD itself (designed by Sebastien Chevalier) and on the
website as well (www.thesilk.net). The CD contains photos and
lyrics, an example that more bands should follow.
Some people call the music of Silk neo-prog or light prog, but the
fact is that it’s difficult to put a label on it because you can
also hear influences from jazz, blues and ethnic rock. The virtuoso
voice of the female singer Jo takes center stage. She performs a lot
of acrobatics with her voice and effortlessly reaches many octaves
on the scale. She has the stubbornness of Nina Hagen and the vocal
range of Kate Bush, even though she would rather liken herself to
P.J. Harvey. It would really be unfair not to mention the musicians
because Silk is, in fact, a group whereby each person contributes to
the sound as a whole.
Starting from the first song, you can hear that they’ve been
tinkering with the versions from their former CD. It all sounds a
bit heavier with a more emphatic guitar work and rhythm section.
There is one song, “The Coolest Cowboy”, which definitely has
progressive roots in its use of tempo changes and state of mind (and
even with a bit of barrel organ at the end). “A Sea Bed Story” is
also a beautiful song with Jo in the starring role (her vocal range
is a source of amazement) and, as is typical with the music of Silk,
there’s a play between vocals and guitar. On the former CD, it was
the driving bass of ‘long’ Jacques that was so evident, but now our
friendly Pool (who has seemed to have learned a lot in a short
period of time) has really gotten a hold on playing in the style of
the band.
“A Matter of Life and Death” is a slower song, almost a ballad,
whereby the synth-guitar camouflages the lack of keyboards. “The
Great Escape” is an up beat, jazzy song.
The song “Home Sweet Home” also had a facelift and even got a
prog-metal intro, which then changes into a bluesy style with guitar
work from Alain that accompanies Jo in a duet that seemingly pulls
you along. It’s one of the high points from the album. In my
opinion, this is the direction that the group should follow in order
to convince the ‘criticizing’ prog public.
“Safe” always had something threatening, especially with its
rumbling bass and drumming. The music of Silk sometimes touches on
the avant-garde and the Canterbury scene from the ‘70s, through
which another audience could be found.
One of my favourites that really stays stuck in your head is “The
Rats”. It’s got a heavy guitar riff that really pushes it to a
higher level and then mellows out into an acoustic sound.
The end of the album really rocks, something you don’t get with a
prog album. Variation follows suit and why not?! Sometimes I get the
feeling that some keyboards would make the music sound fuller, but
I’m not sure if that would make their special sounds disappear. They
could probably reach a wider audience. After all, musicians want to
be appreciated. Silk deserves this. Let’s wait and see if they can
achieve this ;).
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|
Tracklist |
- Smell
of success (2:45)
- The
coolest cowboy (3:54)
- A
seabed story (5:55)
- The
circus (3:00)
- A
matter of life and death (3:38)
- The
great escape (3:17)
- Home
sweet home (5:30)
-
Wounded (6:42)
- Safe
(4:12)
- The
rats (3:48)
- Empty
pockets (3:53)
- My
poor dears (2:28)
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