Reviewed: 5/22/24 5/5
Summary: Established prog musicians pull off a moody avant-prog masterpiece.
Nimal was a prog supergroup that formed in 1987, releasing a debut album the same year. Their self-titled gives off sad and sinister vibes at times, but let's just start with the opener. La semaine des quatre jeudi is ten minutes, but feels worth it. It starts with a slow and somber melody, until it eventually stops and breaks up at around the three minute mark. A minute and a half later, it then goes into a new melody, this one more upbeat. The odd percussion really shines in this album, and fits with the rest of the band. While ths album does space off and meander at times, it's for the right amount of time to not feel boring and gets right back into another melody. All of the influences in this album somehow fit perfectly, letting every odd instrument shine in their own way. Which is part of the reason this is among my favorite prog albums of all time.
Dimanche is eerie song, consisting of a off-putting keyboard melody, with a sax that eventually comes in. But it cuts to Animal Triste, a track that sounds straight from a horror movie. It's intense, and even has a choir to really give off sinsiter vibes from this track. Its a fantastic track, and shows the progression of the album so far.
La Marelle expands on this, combining the off-putting keyboards from Dimanche and expanding on it. It goes from sinister to somewhat upbeat, then goes right down to unsettling. It's a song that has a very interesting progression, giving off conflicting vibrations. Au Zoo is basically La Marelle part 2, so everything I said about the previous track applies to it.
Un Drame begins with a droning gutair that shifts in tone, with the accordion and keyboards eventually assisting it. With the drums pounding your ears until the keyboards taking over, and how slightly off kilter it is, I'm unsure what vibes I would give this one.
Le Tram continues this trend of off kilter music, until eventually droning out for a while, then giving it the explosive closer.
Overall, this album is a overlooked gem. While it is expected, since it's swiss prog, I don't feel as many emotions as i do with this album. Very few pieces of music constantly make me feel the emotion that went into the album every single time I listen to it. As for the 5.0 rating, here's the thing with a lot of music I listen to. It mostly has a high barrier for entry, or at least problems that I can look past. For this album none of that applies. It's not too weird to scare off new listeners, and is also really engaging music.
Recommended tracks: Maligne, Animal Triste, La Semaine des Quatre Jeudi