Prog4you.com - Progressive Rock Review

Canadian band Hamadryad can trace it's roots way back to 1987, the year that central members Jean-François and Denis started playing together. Still, it wasn't until late in the 90's the band actually formed, and in 2001 the debut album "Conservation of Mass" was released. 4 years later a second studio album was finished, and then in 2007 "Live in France 2006", their third album overall as well as their first live album, was made available in June.

Musically Hamadryad is yet another band that has a sound that can be described as rather unique. The foundation in many tunes here seems to be symphonic rock, layered keyboards and acoustic guitar licks or electric guitars providing melodic licks or riff patterns creating soundscapes that at times remind me quite a lot of vintage Marillion. In other tunes the band takes on a more retro approach, combining gritty and heavy riffs and chords with what sounds very much like a Hammond organ, bringing Deep Purple to mind when it comes to sound; although not style as such. And Hamadryad knows how to combine these two quite different approaches in specific compositions too.

There's a couple of more elements to the songs here though, that makes these tunes rather unique. One such element is a distinct jazz tinge to the songs at times, most often with drums and bass showcasing this influence, but at other times the guitar and even to some extent the keyboard will sound jazz influenced. A second element is that the band, at least as I hear it, seems to set up some parts where the guitar and the keyboards in particular gets the chance to improvise quite a bit.

This makes for some rather interesting compositions, and if not for some drawbacks I probably would have enjoyed this album greatly. The major drawback for me are the vocals. Heavily accented vocals are okay if they sound good otherwise, but in this recording they don't. If it is due to performance, recording quality or mix I don't know, but more often than not the vocals come across as weak; not quite in tune or breaking. Others may not have an issue there; but personally I'm highly sensitive to vocals, and thus this becomes a major negative element for me. The mix doesn't seem to be quite balanced either, with drums at times coming across as very sharp, and in some of the more complex segments the instruments drowns each other out, resulting in chaotic soundscapes where the details as well as the melody gets blurred.

Live albums are not always a good way to get a feel for a band. Especially bands that play complex music are subject to so many factors that needs to be perfected to come across well live, and even more factors needs to be perfected for a live recording to sound good. I get the impression that not all factors were to Hamadryad's advantage when this specific concert was recorded, and thus this is not an album I would recommend newbies to check out. Existing fans in general, and those who were at this concert in particular, should have interest in this one. Others should check out their studio albums first.

Personal highlights: "Amora Demonis", "Still They Laugh Pt. 1 / Pt. 2"

Rating: 6 (out of 10)
Reviewer: Olav Björnsen

: : Visit the Artist’s Website : :

: : Discography : :
Live in France 2006 (2007)
Safe in Conformity (2005)
Conservation of Mass (2001)