“A good follow-up to the excellent One Week in Heaven”
1 Synergia Sforzato 5:14
2 Synergetic Beat 4:42
3 Symbiosis 5:55
4 Cantate al fine 7:31
5 Synergistic Fusions 9:24
6 Forces of Synergy 9:48
7 Symbiotic Sequences 9:57
8 Scherzo Synergia 7:26
9 Fantasia con glissando 12:01
10 Symbiogenesis 6:51
(DDL 78:54) (V.F.)
(EM, Cinema Music, Berlin School)
It is with fat and juicy keys moving at a stealthily pace that Synergia Sforzato reveals its mysteries. Chloroformed synth layers envelop this hesitant approach that takes on more weight, and velocity, when even lower chords begin to resonate around the 90th second. The ambiences remain subdued with mysteries with these effects of screaming voices in a vision that flirts with the paranormal phenomena of a dark night at Halloween. The music literally takes off with the arrival of percussions a few seconds later. If the setting remains shadowy, with the organic effect of the gurgling that gives this elastic effect to the cadenced chords, the sequencer frees an adjacent line of rhythm with more melodic arabesques. This rhythm, which limps while being catchy, stops just after the second minute. The track then dives into an always gloomy ambience before being reborn in a good electronic rock shaken with hip-hop-like spasms. SYNERGIA is conceived in the creative vision that gave us the excellent One Week in Heaven earlier this year. Micado surrounds himself this time with 5 guest artists, including Small Chief and Sensory++ also present in One Week in Heaven, in order to propose a solid 79 minutes of strong electronic music (EM) at the same time complex and simply delicious to the ears. The 10 tracks offered are all in evolutionary mode with more than one rhythmic line that clashes and harmonizes in different contexts that Frans Lemaire brings back in a synergy knitted in a complexity that ends up being tamed quite easily. In their own way, these evolving polyrhythmic structures, which take shape through the sequencer, the drum machine and many percussive effects, are all catchy and often favor cadenced melodies over clearer arpeggios. There also are some good organic textures on these sequencing patterns which enrich a listening experience that finds more dynamism with headphones. The ambiences are also less ethereal on this album also offered only in download. They are rather dark with a penchant for a chthonian vision, flirting even with the disturbing phenomena that go beyond the frames of Halloween.
Synergetic Beat lives on two rhythmic structures. One is finely jerky and the other bouncier with a subtle dribbling of sequences, creating an offbeat rhythm that takes us under harmonious solos that are whistled by a synth in ambiences that are always in tune with a supernatural universe. These moods are also found in Symbiosis' overture which proposes a structure of rhythm pushed by the undulations and the orchestrations of the synth. Some percussive clickings take care to frame this track which makes its synth sing as well as in any track of SYNERGIA. Forces of Synergy offers a rather similar structure and features a nice melody driven by a lyrical keyboard. The interstellar voice effects flow quite well, while the hum of a female voice is simply divine. Cantate al fine features a harmonic rhythm structure. One line of the sequencer dribbles along, while another bounces with that crispy organic effect. The keyboard melody espouses perfectly a seraphic female voice in a musical context inspired by the French cinema of the 70's. Synergistic Fusions, done in collaboration with Syndromeda, is one of the good tracks here. Its opening is woven between synth waves and more melodic lines that mate to give a sibylline texture. The rhythm lives on two visions, one fluid and the other bouncy, creating a stop'n'go effect at times. A recurring rhythmic pattern in this album. The sequencer is very good and has this side of Chris Franke's sequencing art. Taking good advantage of its 9 minutes, the track evolves with a nice flavor of contemporary Tangerine Dream in the tone, like the Sonic Poem Series. Forces of Synergy, done in collaboration with Xyrion, is structured like Symbiosis. In the sense that it is orchestrations that propel its slightly warped rhythm with a form of slow staccato. The bass line does all the rhythmic support work. The music reveals a good melody pushed by the keyboard, and later by synth solos. The track is more cosmic with a rather lyrical keyboard. Symbiotic Sequences is another very good track. Its rhythm is binary with an undulatory flow that subdivides its scope with more linear phases. It is shaken by momentary eruptions of a tandem of sequences and percussions that comes and goes by percussive jerks. The synth throws in some beautiful and very harmonious solos. Composed with Small Chief, Scherzo Synergia begins with a sequence that hops from ear to ear with an elastic effect tied at its leaps. This rhythm has two heads. One that hops around all the time and the other that moves forward at a stealthily pace. Here also the sequencer makes its jumping keys dribble, creating a structure always in movement with a good effect of shift. There is a good oriental essence, as much in the rhythm as in the ambiances, and the melodies are hummed by an always creative synth. Elaborated with the complicity of Synthasy, Fantasia con glissando is another big track that starts with a heavy pulsating rhythm. The beat picks up the pace with a pulsing bass-line supported by a good mesh of effects and percussive elements. Its decor caresses the vastness of Cosmos and the synth melodies flirt in return with a slightly more spectral vision. The harmonies and orchestrations seem inspired by the Vangelis universe. The keyboard crumbles arpeggios that tinkle in a musicality fractured by a vision of wandering that leads us to a very nice atmospheric passage around the 5th minute. Here also, the sequences have this organic texture and this crazy desire to overflow, like these percussions which try to reanimate this meditative passage always guided by this keyboard and its hundred melodious arpeggios. Very poetically cosmic, this atmospheric phase stretches on more than 5 minutes before the rhythm reanimates shyly Fantasia con glissando which remains guided by the tinkling of these arpeggios resonating like lyrical glass. Composed with Sensory++, Symbiogenesis begins with a rhythm that slyly undulates, in concert with the cadenced chirps, before being apostrophized by electronic percussion rolls. This gives a structure between two speeds that will take its momentum by being carried away by the synths' surges. The synths have a cinematic texture with both uplifting and sometimes more poignant harmonies, drawing the rhythm into a static sphere, where it gallops in a huge sonic broth, before the track ends in a symphonic crash that can provide a good dose of chills.
In the end, this last offering of Micado requires a little more work for the listening. Sign of an EM that will generate hours of audio pleasure throughout its discovery that Frans Lemaire recommends doing with a set of headphones. And indeed, it is in this way that I appreciated the most the numerous musical enchantments of this SYNERGIA.
Sylvain Lupari (October 28th, 2022) ****½*
Available at Micado Bandcamp
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