Style: Progressive Metal, Jazz Fusion (Instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Syncatto, Nuclear Power Trio
Review by: Christopher
Country: France
Release date: 30 June, 2023
I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: I’m not really a fan of instrumental prog. Most of it’s fine, I just don’t want forty minutes of Plini’s chilled noodling or Animals as Leaders juddering polyrhythms and virtuosic leads. Oftentimes, it all blurs into one, the same tired techniques failing to confer each individual track with its own identity, leading to the congealment of a sonic lump. Give me variety! Give me wackiness! Wait, what’s this you’ve given me? ‘Path of Ilya?’
Heterostasis is the second album from this French instrumental trio whose Spotify monthly listener sits, at the time of writing, at a criminally low twenty-five. Path of Ilya’s mission statement is to take the listener on “a musical journey unconstricted by a particular style” and they live up to that promise. Borrowing from a range of genres, Heterostasis is a kleptomaniac musical smorgasbord.
“Kleptocratic Joe” defiantly announces Heterostasis as an unhinged work of virtuosic instrumental playing, with André Marques laying down thick, funky basslines under the ever-noodling guitar of Jean-Joseph Bondier, and building to a grandiose orchestra-backed crescendo. Having proven their chops, Path of Ilya dig straight into the mad genre experimentation with “Palitana Sarando” which opens with traditional Arabic singing before plunging straight into Phrygian scales. Bondier uses this track to show off his other talent: turntables. You read that right, Bondier’s out here scratching phat samples over mental, oriental instrumental prog.
Another sudden vibe change, “The Stoned, the Stoner and the Stonest” is as laidback and psychedelic as its name suggests, utilising beefy stoner grooves and reverb-laden lead lines redolent of Elder, and dissembling into ambient playing in a reefer haze playing while a buzzing synth solo cavorts overhead. “Giboulées Ahurissantes” continues in this more languid, trippy vein; more jazz fusion inspired than its predecessor, it’s a different stripe of chilled out psychotropic. And yet, after the continual whiplash of the first three tracks, it’s a little disappointing that we don’t get another dramatic change in style—on repeat listens I often found myself failing to realise they were two different tracks. While it’s still a fun, well-composed track, it doesn’t quite attain the giddy heights of its antecedent tracks.
Fortunately, “Mamabaroux” and penultimate track “Saltimbancos d’Amareleja” perk up proceedings, the former a voyage through island calypso to a folky piratical jig, as though the beach party has just been ransacked; the latter, a Syncatto style flamenco and castanet romp which throws in some reggae grooves for good measure. These two tracks also best showcase the talents of Bruno Chabert; making your drumwork suit this many different styles is no easy feat, but Chabert makes it look effortless because he understands the nuance required to cater to each style.
Clearly, Path of Ilya excel at every style they take on, their proficiency is absolutely beyond reproach. And for the most part, this is a unified album. The only weak spots being the aforementioned “Giboulées Ahurissantes” which I think is ultimately a problem of pacing, and closing track “Spóros”. Bondier gets back on the turntables for this synth-heavy finale which scratches and thrums its way through a sonic landscape more progressive dubstep than instrumental metal. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty mind-blowing track, but I think it stretches the limits of what one can reasonably get away with on an instrumental prog album whilst still presenting a unified work. Guitar and bass are left by the wayside for what sounds like a Bondier solo track, and I’d buy the full solo album, but I don’t think the style fits here.
Heterostasis is every bit as varied as its name suggests, a confident sojourn through a variety of genres, all held together by the mastery of its Jack-of-all-trade performers. Unearthing a hidden gem of this quality is a rare treat and while Path of Ilya have some rough edges to sand off, their talent is truly something to behold. But more impressive still is the fact that they’ve produced that rare thing: an instrumental prog album that I actually enjoy, and that might be the highest praise I can offer.
Recommended tracks: Kleptocratic Joe, Mambaroux, Saltimbancos d’Amareleja
You may also like: Etrange, The Resonance Project
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook
Label: Independent
Path of Ilya is:
– André Marques (bass)
– Bruno Chabert (drums)
– Jean-Joseph Bondier (guitars, turntables)
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