Nagah-mahdi - Opuscrits en quarante-huit rouleaux

This is Sebkha-Chott's second CD and possibly their craziest, most difficult record. By the time of this 2005 release, the group (its members uncredited) had achieved a distinctive though hardly homogeneous sound. It has a lot to do with Disco Volante-era Mr. Bungle, plus a hefty dose of French RIO zaniness, and the kitchen sink. From avant-metal to brutal prog and trash merengue, the group covers a huge sound palette, although everything coalesces toward the heavy, the scary, and the weird. Fantômas, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Lightning Bolt, the Flying Luttenbachers, Naked City, and Etron Fou Leloublan all come to mind as partial comparisons — and yes, that implies a high level of musicianship. The album consists of eight long compositions, all split into several tracks (each intro, verse, bridge, change gets its individual track and title) for a total of 48 bits, plus a prologue that you will find by rewinding the CD from track one. Vocals are mostly in French, with English verses thrown in, especially when the lyrics get nasty (this band has a bad sexual humor streak). Don't worry about them if you don't understand French, as there is plenty going on musically to keep you busy — a bit too much in fact: things get overwhelming and long toward the end, the intensity never relenting to let the listener take in a breath. Still, Nagah-Mahdi features several highlights, such as the first piece (tracks one through six) and "Illusions" (tracks 26 through 32). ~ François Couture, Rovi