MACHIAVEL - VIRTUAL SUN - 1999

MACHIAVEL is certainly the most internationally famous Belgian Progressive rock band of the Seventies. Quite catchy, its music is clearly inspired by the great British masters, with GENESIS as one of the main influences. This quintet beautifully performed really pleasant tracks sung in a perfect English. The instrumental interventions not only always made sense, but were also always essential. In the early Eighties, this emblematic line-up led by drummer Marc YSAYE decided to use a more consensual, not to say commercial, musical language. This new orientation however led to the split-up of the band. "Virtual Sun" (1999) is then an excellent surprise ! Re-formed with most of their original members, MACHIAVEL could just have used their wealthy inheritance to fulfill the fans' nostalgia of the good all days. However, even though they keep their innate melodical qualities and their sense of excellence, this quintet still takes the risk to make a stylistic turn inspired by the best LED ZEPPELIN. Those eleven previously unreleased compositions can then be seen as a unique blend between the characteristics that made this band's success, and Robert PLANT's tortured lyricism. This translates into compositions with both romantic and tense atmospheres based on slow tempos, that abruptly evolve in high tension. All of this is included in a powerful and high-quality production, worth of this album's ambition. A successful comeback ! If you want to discover MACHIAVEL, start by "Mechanical Moonbeams", the most sophisticated and GENESIS-like opus, and go on with "Jester", the eponymous album, etc.
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