OSCIL: First Step On My Moon (ROCK,Alternative Rock): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Oscil is a band from France that has taken the step of releasing a first album after an EP that served as an experimental laboratory. To make an album nowadays seems to have become an exception which nevertheless keeps its supporters, of which Oscil is undeniably a part. The magnificent cover of the album, looking a bit like an Arcimboldo painting (but without the fruits and vegetables) testifies to this love for the object and its aestheticism.

'Harlem Shadow', which opens the opus under the airs of swaying alternative rock, allows us to enter an album richer than its opening could let us believe. Oscil knows how to find the melody which does not reveal itself immediately. The musicians thus offer in each composition doors of entry allowing to catch the attention.

The change of course is not long in coming with 'The Pact' where Ingrid reveals her talent on vocals, both serene and explosive in the chorus. The riffs are legion in this progressive rock close to the neo but which does not lock itself in the facility thanks notably to a varied rhythmic. We feel close to The Gathering which would not have forgotten the sense of melody and its coherence. Nothing seems superfluous in this title until its very well constructed raging final. Some tracks go further in the use of contrasts exploding the linearity ('A Shropshire Lad' which goes from jazzy movements to more nervous rock). We find the influence of Anneke Van Giesbergen in a refined composition with subtle arrangements and a terribly effective chorus ('You') which brings a relatively luminous breath to the album.

There is no album without a climax, and "First Step On My Moon" finds it in 'Romance' which throws a blues rock riff that comes out of nowhere. Ingrid confirms her vocal performance in her modulation which proves that the Jirfiya experience has made her realize her potential. The atmospheric part is magnified by a sax solo which confirms Oscil's anchorage in a modern progressive rock. A piano movement follows which sublimates a little more the composition followed by the organ.

The more the album steps forward in time, the more it becomes dense, making the tracks less immediate, thus avoiding any weariness. It's a risk totally assumed by the band who doesn't choose the easy solution. Oscil comes out of it with flying colors thanks to talented musicians and a singer at the top of her art (the vocals of 'Enter The Haze'). Vincent multiplies the expressive soli which come to cut the sometimes aggressive riffs ('The Heart Of The Woman'). Finally, the rhythm section also imposes the respect by its variety.

"First Step On My Moon" is an album which does not miss character in its progressive rock at the same time fragile, unbridled and sometimes rough. In spite of this mixture, Oscil does not lose its listener showing a certain requirement for the effort in order to impregnate itself with a melody which does not reveal itself at once, a little like Weend'ô. "First Step On My Moon" is a rich record that will be hard to get tired of. First try and almost a master stroke! - Official website

OSCIL

FIRST STEP ON MY MOON

AUTOPRODUCTION

ROCK