Frenchman Jeremie Grima is the brain behind The Black Noodle Project. The band with this strange name that once started as a one man project and later Matthieu Jaubert joined and various guest musicians were invited to play on the next albums. In this case Anthony Létévé is the bass player and the drums are played by Arnaud Rousset and both are doing a good job. In 2024 their debut album And Life Goes On (2004) was re-released in a remastered form and since I didn't know this album I could write this review without being hindered by any prior knowledge. If you try to find some information about this project on the internet, you will come across some contradictory messages. For example, one speaks of a Pink Floyd-like vibe while others talk about atmospheric post-rock with metal edges. Of course, that can also differ per album and especially the vocal part is a variant because sometimes the music is completely instrumental and on other releases it is not. On this album there are a lot of vocal parts and the somewhat monotonous voice of Grima fits the not too cheerful character of the music. The album contains ten fairly compact tracks, a long track and some bonus material. I don't hear much Pink Floyd but also not too much metal so I can't really confirm the mentioned comparisons. Song titles like Where Everything Is Dark speak for themselves and if I have to place the music, names like Radiohead, Anathema and to a lesser extent Porcupine Tree come up with the understanding that their quality is not achieved, which does not mean that it is not good, but I miss variation. The lyrics are generally about a broken up relationship and the feelings that are caused by that. The vocals don't really touch me and are sometimes a bit flat, just like some of the songs. A ballad like Face The Truth contains a simple melody and leans on it for the entire song, which is not bad but not exciting either. Drops In The Ocean, on the other hand, also starts quietly but then develops into a great song with a nice guitar solo and that's how I prefer to hear it. Bombastic but not metal, certainly not. Where Are You is a somewhat boring song with acoustic guitar and violin and an unremarkable guitar solo. There are way better guitar solos on the album, Jeremie is very capable of delivering some very good ones. Somewhere Between Here And There is a somewhat heavier song with some spicy guitar work but again there is not too much variation within the song, it just lingers on in a steady rhythm. I definitely have to mention the last and almost ten minute long She Prefers Her Dreams because it stands out above most of the rest because of a nice build-up and enough dynamics to keep you interested. The flowing guitar lines are finally a little reminiscent of the aforementioned groups. The distorted vocals could be done by Steven Wilson and the often used double vocals are actually fine. After five minutes it takes off and it gets heavier but I still don't think it's metal but indeed more post-rock or just rock. This is the conclusion of the regular album and as already stated I can't say if the remaster has led to better sound quality but I assume that this is the case. The bonus material consists of two tracks, The Words I Have in a demo version from 2024 and a demo version of Face The Truth from 2003. The first song is not on the album so it is an addition that fits the album well in terms of style. The second song is substantially different from the track that was chosen for the album. The demo version is more based on guitar and the album version more on piano and it's a matter of taste which is preferred. For lovers of more traditional prog or even neo prog this is not very interesting but for those who appreciate the bands mentioned it could be something so I would say, give it a try. The quality of songs like Drops In The Ocean and She Prefers Her Dreams may have been a great start to build on. The already existing fans will have to decide if the improved sound quality and the bonus tracks are reason enough to acquire this 2024 edition. ***- Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
