Beautiful Lunar Landscape - Alone In This Dark Romantic Night
[Hidden Shoal Recordings]

Right from the opening strains of this EP, it is clear that there is something special about French collective Beautiful Lunar Landscape.

Recalling the start of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man", eerie drones and organ sounds drift from speaker to speaker during the intro of the incredibly titled opening track, "Projected In This Beautiful Lunar Landscape Imagining This Glorious Chaos As A Ghost Of Myself". It soon morphs into a sprawling, interplanetary guitar experiment as frenzied percussion and spookish Theremin sounds launch this track into another dimension. As the band slowly lessen the pace and gradually move into an ambient passage, you are left wondering, ‘what the hell just happened!’.

But then, further investigation into the Bordeaux-based band reveals that BLL are an immensely talented bunch. It is difficult to pinpoint their sound, there is so much going on throughout the four mini-epic's on this EP. For a start there is the gargantuan waves of distorted guitar work that nods to Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, which literally can rattle your speakers, while there is a distinctive Portishead influence which weaves its way throughout the whole EP. Then there is the appreciation of the dynamics of all those great shoegazer bands, while swirling mellotron sounds recall 70's prog rock bands; you know the dinosaur groups that is supposedly not cool to like anymore?.

If you have ever wanted to hear what Portishead would sound like melded with a shoegazer aesthetic, then listen to the title track of this EP and wait the whole five and a half minutes to hear some of the most incredible double kick-drum percussion this side of Slayer's Dave Lombardo.

It is not just the instrumentation that points to a progressive influence, however. Song titles such as "Crystalised, Facing This Empty Screen I Wish The Film Could Never End", suggests more than one band member has a fondness for Yes albums or those wonderful kaleidoscopic double gatefold sleeve LP's from the 70's. The track itself, is a slow and brooding effort, that soon cuts to some male/female vocal parts and then to a mystical sounding spoken word part. It all soon subsides with some Greenwood inspired guitar chops and then falls into a monolithic assault of ear-shredding distortion and powerful percussion. It is absolutely, spell-bindingly brilliant.

Final track, "Tomorrow, I'll Be Born Inside An Eternal Beginning", changes tact relying on mournful synths and tentative guitar work to start with. When the drums do kick in, along with a space station style countdown sample, you are left mesmerised by the expansive and wide-reaching nature of the sounds BLL can create.

At 25 minutes long and spanning just 4 tracks, Beautiful Lunar Landscape has created some breath-taking moments. In fact some bands have had 10 year long careers and still not came close to hitting some of these heights. Simply put, this is a stunning debut effort.

Track Listing:

1. Glorious Chaos
2. Alone in this Dark Romantic Night
3. Empty Screen
4. Eternal Beginning