Avanti!

“In these challenging times, it's nice to count on something that seems to be getting better instead of worse. Miriodor have been around now for about 30 years, quite an accomplishment in itself, but perhaps more amazingly, every album they release improves in some way upon the last.

A case in point is Avanti! (Onward!), the band's seventh Cuneiform album, released in May 2009. You might take note of the cover -- not as garish or whimsical as previous albums -- before the music even begins.

The front cover photo shows keyboardist Pascal Globensky, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Bernard Falaise, bassist/keyboardist Nicolas Masino, and drummer RTmi Leclerc four abreast in a stark white twisting corridor accompanied by a pair of out-of-focus passersby.

The noise and heaviosity, as the first roaring moments of opening track ‘Envoutement’ (Bewitchment) reveal, with Leclerc's cymbals filling all available cracks in the sound and Masino's bass in speaker-busting mode. This is probably the heaviest Miriodor ever. When the focus sharpens and the instruments stand out in crisp relief, the contrast is startling. The sonic palette throughout Avanti! nearly overwhelms the ears, although Miriodor, as always, demonstrate uncanny skills in managing their sound universe and apparently kept overdubbing to a minimum here.

Falaise is a mixologist of the highest order, as he proved on his Ambiances MagnTtiques release Clic. There are also some inspired guest appearances that truly rock the house, notably tenor/baritone saxophonist Pierre LabbT and trumpeter Maxime St-Pierre, who punch up Bolide DTbile (Dare Devil) with their party-ready horn section (and St-Pierre's soaring solo) before a thicket of intertwining keyboards and ascending guitar lines take the party somewhere else entirely, with sampled vocals over spiraling rhythms suggesting a Rock in Opposition answer to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

Soprano saxophonist Marie-Chantal Leclair, familiar to Miriodor fans, appears on ‘La Roche’ (Meeting Point), entering with a flurry of notes and joining Falaise in the tune's nearly whimsical melody line, deceptively light given the later powerful climax filled with wide-interval leaps shooting from ‘Falaise's’ axe as Globensky contributes concise and perfectly placed keyboard embellishments. With its 5/4 rhythmic underpinning beneath ghostly effects, counterpoint melodies, and some flat-out spectacular ‘Falaise’ guitar, Avanti! is an apt title track, nearly a full-album summation in eight minutes that truly move.

Some might consider it a stretch to suggest this track extends nearly from Satie to Br÷tzmann (the latter courtesy of skronky firebrand LabbT) on the intensity meter -- but believe it. In the cover photo Miriodor may seem incongruously stationary for an album titled Onward!” -- but perhaps the reason is that they are the journey's destination. On Avanti! Miriodor have climbed their highest peak yet and now stand patiently waiting for you to discover them.” ~ Dave Lynch, All Music Guide