{"id":8061,"date":"2021-07-09T10:40:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T08:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=8061"},"modified":"2024-06-16T15:54:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T13:54:00","slug":"xavier-boscher-earthscapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/cd-recensie\/xavier-boscher-earthscapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Xavier Boscher – Earthscapes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Als je deze recensie liever in het Nederlands leest, kun je hier klikken<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The French guitarist\/keyboardist Xavier Boscher has already made quite a few (digital) albums. In the autumn of 2020, he launched the album ‘Waterscapes’, on which a mix of prog metal and new age can be heard. On 9 July, the successor Earthscapes will be released. Only the artwork was teamwork of him and his son Andr\u00e9a, for the rest it is a one-man project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His previous album opened a bit softly, but that is different now, for ‘Road to Happiness’ has a tightly played metal intro. A bit later, guitar play takes care of the melody, it is well distributed over the headphones. There are enough changes in tempo, volume and style, they are quite gradual. The sound of the cymbals could have been a bit fuller, especially in combination with the (tightly played) metal. The calm start of ‘Mountain of Spirit’ switches to metal pretty quickly. Because of the rather shrill sound of the cymbals, and the large number of repetitions, it becomes overpowering. At these moments the other music gets too little attention. For the rest, the sound of the drums is fine, you can hear enough dynamics. Despite the metal influences, ‘Luminescent Forest’ feels a bit lighter. The sound of the cymbals is better balanced, but in the other ‘drumming’ you hear less variation. After a great piece of guitar playing, this prog\/melodic rock song has a nice ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Carnal Cocoon’ starts tender with sampled sounds and piano playing, then you hear some compelling guitar play. When the drums join in, the tenderness remains more or less. This song is a metaphor for a woman’s belly. The acoustic guitar play in ‘Sanctuary of Delight’ is warm in colour. There are a few subtle twists, but it remains subdued. The end dies away beautifully. This quiet song forms a nice contrast with ‘Cobalt Blue Tarantula’. The special sound during the intro could have lasted a bit longer. This (uptempo) metal song ends quite suddenly. The small played part in the middle of ‘Field of Sapphire’ is just too short to really impress. But the compelling guitar play hereafter does. This ballad dies away nicely. ‘Volcania’ has a special intro. During the melodic parts, unusual sounds can be heard in the background. Again, the subdued part is just too short to have any real impact. At the end you get the feeling of an eruption of a volcano, a fine ending to this song and well chosen as a final track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a pity that the sound of the cymbals in a number of songs is sometimes too shrill and\/or there are a lot of repetitions. This takes too much attention away from the fantastic guitar playing at these moments. Xavier’s instrumental abilities do not always come to full bloom, and in doing so, he actually sells himself short. The songs are accessible in structure, but some changes could have been more surprising. The distribution on the headphones is well played. The songs vary enough, yet they form a nice whole on ‘Earthscapes’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(78\/100) (Own Management)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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