MONNAIE DE SINGE: The Story Of Rose Ola Seks (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

After a fifth album alerting us to the climatic emergency, always as topical, the french band Monnaie de Singe offers us a sixth album that takes us to the edge of human madness, by telling us the tragic story of Rose Ola Seks, a Norwegian tortured by diabolical impulses. The plot and the denouement will remain secret here.

After almost 25 years with the band, the historical bassist Serge Combettes has retired in 2019, replaced by Eric Issertes. And his new mates offer him a baptism of fire in fanfare, with the first title of the album where the bass predominates on all the instruments in the sticky atmosphere which is used as decoration to the presentation of the intrigue. The guitars saturate, a disturbing gimmick is used as a reference to the voice of Anne-Gaëlle Rumin-Monfils who oscillates between low frequencies and projections in the high notes when the heroine with the tortured spirit asks that one "hears her prayer". The production is neat, perfectly balanced between all the instruments, allowing to distinguish each sound layer and contributing to the setting of the Nordic atmosphere.

The following tracks will also validate the main change in the music of Monnaie de Singe, namely a sound that fits perfectly with the concept of the album. Post-rock sounds, aggressive guitars, disturbing keyboards with very modern sounds, very dark drums with very few cymbal strokes, welcome to the madness of Rose. These atmospheres contrast of course with some clearer passages, notably during the guitar soli, whether they are close to David Gilmour ('Rose Ola Seks') or more typically neo-progressive ('Three Days in Hell').

The progressive construction of the various titles is obvious, their sequence even more, and a careful listening allows to distinguish the remarkable work of the rhythmic bass/drums section ('Elias' is a real treat) which gives a formidable base to the whole, and pilots the changes of atmosphere and themes in a masterly way. On top of all that, how can we not underline the performance of Anne-Gaëlle Rumin-Monfils whose mezzo voice best illustrates the story imagined by Jean-Philippe Moncanis and set to music by his companions. The story ends with an unexpected twist, symbolized by a title that may appear slightly out of sync with the rest of the album and whose somewhat brutal instrumental fall would have deserved a more substantial development.

Nevertheless, this sixth offering proves to be a real auditory delight, one of those which offer to their listeners many listenings with a renewed pleasure each time. With "The Story of Rose Ola Seks", Monnaie de Singe has taken a new step which, even if its modesty suffers, propels the band very high in the progressive galaxy. - Official website

MONNAIE DE SINGE

THE STORY OF ROSE OLA SEKS

AUTRE LABEL

PROGRESSIVE ROCK