Verdict: engaging musical odyssey
More info: www.unicornrecords.com , www.nilweb.com
I had been intrigued by this album ever since I reviewed Nil's "Nil Novo Sub Sole" album last year. When I was doing some background research, this album kept cropping up. In fact Nil, have recorded 4 albums. "40 Jours sur le Sinai" dates back to 2003 and was their third album. It was originally independently released, but has been put out by Unicorn whilst we await some new material from the band.
"40 jours sur le Sinai" is a concept album which deals with Atlantis and ancient Egypt. There is a booklet in both French and English to accompany the album. In terms of the music, it really is a varied mixture with many styles covered including progressive, ambient, electronic, classical, even metal. The band are helped out by a number of additional musicians on flute, cello, harp and sax. There are a few vocal parts in the album, but they are used sparingly. In particular, the vocals of Roselyn Berthet, who at the time this was recorded wasn't a full band member, have that wonderful ethereal quality in mentioned in the "Nil Novo Sub Sole" review.
As you may have guessed from the previous paragraph, this is difficult to classify and thinking of comparisons almost impossible. The only one I will mention is King Crimson because the basslines are a common element creating a continuity between the tracks. There are 29 'tracks' which are nominally split between 2 acts. In practice, this is the sort of album where talk of individual tracks is meaningless. Instead, it is better to talk about an intriguing and enchanting musical odyssey that draws the listener in and engrosses you with it's twists and turns.
