The 'Buzzin' Sound' series continues (look for the #buzz label for all episodes of the series) where I let myself be guided by @[ALFAMA] through the most mysterious and experimental corners of the music world, as if he were Virgil and I Dante, while Beatrice is absent. But today I present to you these French artists who, whether you like them or not, are or are destined to become a true cult object among fans of progressive music or more atypical and experimental music from the seventies.

Archaia - Archaia (1977)

The French group Archaia (Pierrick Le Bras, Michel Munier, Philippe Bersan), devoted to the sound of Magma, set up this project in the mid-seventies, reinterpreting those typically progressive sounds in a more experimental way and constructing compositions without drums, primarily based on a particular use of percussion. The final result was something that is still genuinely difficult to find even among experimental formations today. The eponymous album, produced by Dominique Calmel, was released in 1977 and remains to this day the only testament to their music. The album, with its mysterious atmospheres and laden with esoteric content like some of the progressive episodes of those years, revolves around the fundamental role of the bass, which is quite peculiar and in some ways anticipates certain uses of the instrument in the following decade, starting from the birth of the so-called no-wave. The guitar plays a definitely secondary role compared to the massive use of synths, which recall certain sounds that are indeed typical of progressive bands of the era, and the characteristic vocals. Over it all shines a certain intellectual theatricality of the period. The best moments in my opinion: 'Soleil Noir', the reverberations of 'Sur les Traces du Vieux Roy', the drone of 'Massa Confusa', the visions of 'Le Grand Secret', 'Vol du Phoenix', the garage acidity of 'Chthonos'.

archaia - chronos (1977)