![\"Grandval\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/iskcrocks.com\/foto\/GrandBig2.jpg?w=848&ssl=1\")
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Lurking in the shadows of Auvergne a few twenty years ago, this musical project has changed
\nmany times for finally returning on its original grounds and coming out of the woods to occur in
\nfull light.<\/p>\n
Grandval, that\u2019s progressive rock sung in French, even if the label evilly sticks to the hair bug!
\nOne would be rather closer to “crossover prog”, so many pop, AOR, psychedelic, post-rock and
\nothers elements being mingled with tracks that are never really “stocky” nor “epic”\u2026
\nIn that sense, one finds the influences of bands such as Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd (Meddle
\nperiod), Styx, Gong, King Crimson, Asia, Beatles, and so on, to form a distinctive identity.
\nThe name Grandval is itself charged with meaning: associated to nature, it indicates two places
\nin French Auvergne, as well as a big figure of the Resistance during Second World War. Lastly,
\nit plays on the obscure origin of the surname of the “alpha” wolf who leads the pack\u2026
\nFocusing on French lyrics, A ciel ouvert\u2026 talks about nature (the true one and the human \u2013 too
\nhuman \u2013 one\u2026), animals (wolves in particular), war, madness, love, difficulty of living in and of
\nthinking this world, all of which in a poetic and colorful language (inspired by French artists and
\nbands such as Ange, Atoll, Lazuli, Mona Lisa, Naos, Nemo, Michel Polnareff, Hubert-Felix
\nThi\u00e9faine, G\u00e9rard Manset\u2026). Without being conceptual, the album has a guiding light, with
\nvaried musical touches and atmospheres.<\/p>\n
Musician for years, Grandval returned in Auvergne to finalize his project. Player of the musical
\nscene in Clermont-Ferrand during the Eighties and Nineties within bands like Keops, Fragile,
\nTaliesyn, Fracture or Street Rats, he somewhat broke away the musical world to devote himself
\nto sociology, edition of books and reviews, and so on, allowing somewhat necessary time for
\nthe emerging of and the vital need for such a project.<\/p>\n
On A ciel ouvert\u2026, his first record ever, he sings all vocal parts, plays bass, acoustic and
\nelectric guitars, keyboards and programming. To bring the album necessary complementary
\ncolors, Grandval has brought some brave wolves together.<\/p>\n
First of all, he chose “La Vall\u00e9e” Studio (quite normal, you may say, for someone who likes
\nAuvergne, wolves and Pink Floyd\u2026) to complete drums recording, redo some instrumental
\nparts, sing all the vocals, and finally mix the album.<\/p>\n
Martial Semonsut (Marshmallow, Lorlanj, Yvan Marc\u2026), a professional drummer, is behind the
\nkit for seven tracks. Involved in other projects (Snowy Owl, Hiver Pool), he brings an amazing
\nmusical diversity from his studio located in Chambezon (43).<\/p>\n
Then, the album could benefit from the involvement of four famous guitarists who had the
\nkindness to bring their know-how, energy and availability on six tracks. Jean-Pierre Louveton
\n(JPL, Nemo, Wolfspring) has posed his formidable guitars on two tracks (“Entendre les
\nengoulevents” and “A ciel ouvert”), leading them to an additional soul dimension. Steph Honde
\n(Hollywood Monsters, Paul Di’Anno) appears on two titles (“Crev\u00e9 les nuages” and “Aktion T4”),
\ndistilling particularly incendiary notes on the second one. Kevin Serra (Kevin Serra, Quantum
\nLegacy) brings its multiple sources of inspiration and technical playing on “Jongleur des 4
\nVents”. Last but not least, Colin Tench (Colin Tench Project, Corvus Stone, The Ministrel\u2019s
\nGhost) slides subtle atypical waves on “Comment les loups changent les rivi\u00e8res\u2026”.
\nMastering has been carried out in Lisbon by Cris de Almeida. This stage was particularly
\nmonitored in order to emphasize as well as possible the spatial dimension of the music, the
\ndelicate touches of production, and avoid the participation in the exponential “Loudness War”
\nin musical industry.<\/p>\n
Add to that a 12 pages in-depth booklet, a splendid cover photograph by Fabien Monteil
\n(http:\/\/fabienmonteil-photographies.blogspot.fr\/) and a wonderful logo designed by Stan W. Decker
\n(http:\/\/www.stanwdartworks.com\/), and you will get an outline of the almost 52 minutes musical
\nlandscape produced by Grandval for Vallis Lupi\u2026q<\/p>\n
YouTube : Grandval Music (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCjGuepXU4CV5KXuAMnpA2YA)<\/a> Lurking in the shadows of Auvergne a few twenty years ago, this musical project has changed many times for finally returning on its original grounds and coming out of the woods to occur in full light. Grandval, that\u2019s progressive rock sung in French, even if the label evilly sticks to the hair bug! One would be rather closer to “crossover… Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2198","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","xfolkentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PbEcyi-zs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskcrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskcrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskcrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskcrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskcrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iskcrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskcrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFacebook: www.facebook.com\/grandvalmusic<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"