Notes
Spleen Arcana is born from the ashes of past musical projects led by Julien Gaullier, a self taught multi-instrumentalist from France who composes music at home since 1994. Inspired by vintage progressive rock and musical heroes like Marillion, Anathema, Radiohead or Mike Oldfield, Julien decides some years ago to release a first album on his own, playing any instruments he could get his hands on and starting to record every note he wrote with the equipment he found around him. Helped later by David Perron on the drums and Marie Guillaumet for additionnal vocals. Years passed, songs evolved, sound changed, some equipment even broke. The result of this chaotic musical adventure, called The Field Where She Died, is a raw but sincere first album coming from a long passionate process. What they said: 'A Kind of Heaven, the final track of this melancholic album, while still featuring melancholy, the composition is definitely the best on the album, developing a whole bunch of more varied tempos and moods throughout the song, with more of the classic mellotron, as well as featuring some moog. A excellent closer.' - ProgArchives ''Trample On Me' begins with a gentle piano before the riff kicks in and a slightly sinister vocal with the lyrics describing a feeling of betrayal. There is an overwhelming sense of loss, sorrow and melancholy throughout and this is particularly evident on the compelling 'The Tears Are Made To Flow', inspired by the writers travels around Ireland, which weaves a bleak journey of despair. The Field Where She Died reaches it's conclusion with the bombastic 'A Kind Of Heaven', Gaullier unleashing a sparkling two minute solo at the half way mark as it winds towards to a dramatic conclusion.' - Sea Of Tranquility "Sometimes this leads to moments of expansive grandeursuch as the eastern-tinged, metallic bombast of Trample On Me which resonates with a multisectioned Opeth splendour" - Prog Magazine ''The Field Where She Died' takes on a gentle variety of art rock in the symphonic vein, where vintage influences and a vintage sound are dominating aspects of the production' - Progressor "The most pleasing aspect of The Field Where She Died is the quality of the melodic composition. Strong melodic writing can cover a host of other compositional shortcomings and Gaullier shows throughout the album that he has a gift for melodic writing." - Dprp.net "Spleen Arcana has it's 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!" - Jerry Lucky "Dark and even aggressive with the harsh guitar riffs, this reminds of music from bands like Anathema (Alternative 4 era) while incorporating intricate compositional structures and a vast array of sounds and instruments." - ProgArchives.
