Band: Spleen Arcana

CD Title: “The Field Where She Died”

Label: Independent Release

Release Date: 2009

When you look up Spleen Arcana on line they use the term ‘melancholic prog rock’ and then when you get to their site it talks about 45 minutes of alternative progressive rock that includes Mellotron and mandolin. Well I tell you, I was hooked right then and there. And true to form when the debut album The Field Where She Died gets underway, yes it has a melancholic feel and you don’t have to wait too long to hear the Mellotron. Spleen Arcana is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist and composer Julien Gaullier (vocals, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, bodhran) along with the assistance of David Perron (drums) and Marie Guillaumet (vocals).

The Field Where She Died consists of five compositions, four of which are in the 9-10-minute range and one shorter track. That short track entitled “The Missing Piece” [3:42] is a slow paced ballad type of song, with strummed acoustic guitar, Pink Floyd styled drums, cellos, and the obligatory Mellotron strings and choirs in the background. The vocals themselves are in English and it almost resembles some of the music off Radiohead’s OK Computer. The next track, “A Picture of Two Lovers in the Mist” [10:12] is the longest, and starts out with a moody atmospheric 2-minute introduction consisting of synth strings and cascading plucked strings that sound like worried birds, before sliding into the song proper. The song is again plaintive and melancholic with emotion laden vocals sung half-way between a whisper and regular voice. The softer vocal approach nicely draws the listener into the stories contained within these compositions. In the background the electric guitar plays a discordant lead line until about 5-minutes into the piece where the riffing starts and builds to a wonderful Mellotron crescendo. The voice at this point becomes more aggressive to match the intensity of the music, which has been slowly speeding up. Things pick up in tempo slightly with the next song, “Tears are Made to Flow” [9:49], with its opening vocals sung through a megaphone style filter. And again the Mellotron plays a big part in creating a lush proggy backdrop.

The on-line descriptions of Spleen Arcana are right on the mark in terms of trying to convey a general feel. Melancholy and symphonic are the two best descriptives, but not in any way similar to the Scandinavian prog scene. Spleen Arcana has its own sound incorporating a bit of early Marillion here and a bit of early King Crimson there. For a debut disc, The Field Where She Died is plenty accomplished and the musicianship shines throughout. I’d certainly recommend this to symphonic fans!