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The Eye of Time: MYTH I: A Last Dance for the Things We Love

Marc Euvrie, aka the Eye of Time, bends all musical elements to his disquieting will on MYTH I: A Last Dance for the Things We Love.
The Eye of Time
MYTH I: A Last Dance for the Things We Love
Denovali
2016-10-21

Denovali recording artist, the Eye of Time, is French musician Marc Euvrie. Type his name into a search engine, and you’ll find pictures of him playing or posing with a cello or a guitar. When you press play on any Euvrie release under The Eye of Time name, you’ll find that the music is geared more towards the open-ended electronic acts found on the Denovali roster than a solo acoustic venture. With the Eye of Time, everything seems to happen simultaneously in a perfect polyphonic balance. The beats keep time, but shyly. The synthesizer ostinatos hypnotize and never bore. The overdubbed electric guitar contributes beautiful noise without becoming gimmicky. Cello and piano notes bound around in provoking cadences, but never turn pretentious. In other words, Marc Euvrie is one of those artists who can juggle many things all while making it sound only natural.

MYTH I: A Last Dance for the Things We Love, the first installment in a three-part series, was recorded entirely by Euvrie in his home over a period of 15 months. The music is so heavy and morose that it sounds as if he must have died a hundred times while making it. Even the packaging hits home with a harbinger, watching two people perform a dancing protest in dust masks, all while the album’s title paints a grim picture of loss: say goodbye to the things you love — permanently. The song titles only exacerbate the gloom. “God Is Your Loneliness”, “I Could Sleep For a Thousand Years”, and the cake-taker “My Dreams Are Dead, But Will Be Reborn With Grounds, Stones and Ancient Spells” pile on top of one another as if you’re at a funeral, but you’re not sure who has died.

It would be a mistake to say that MYTH I: A Last Dance for the Things We Love is of a singular, dreary mood. Texture and variety are on Euvrie’s side, and the six pieces that span 41 minutes rarely rely on cheap repetition or stay in the same gear just to provide extra padding. The best example of the Eye of Time avoiding such traps is the lengthiest track, the aforementioned “My Dreams Are Dead, But Will Be Reborn With Grounds, Stones and Ancient Spells”. Just 12 seconds short of the 10-minute mark, there is plenty of room for Marc Euvrie to build a tower or mood through layering and dynamics. The first thing we hear is a cinematic beat cozying up a little too close to the Hans Zimmer school of composition. The keyboard takes over with a slow waltz arpeggio, letting the listener know that something tense is approaching. Euvrie then sends a distorted electric guitar soaring through a sky that’s constructed by all other mounting instruments. Rhythm tracks take a break in the middle while the keyboards recalibrate their ascent. Once again, the electric guitar leads the way as a saber-rattling general marching in front of an army. In instances like these, harmony comes about almost as a by-product amid the drama and exorcism.

But that’s just one track. MYTH I: A Last Dance for the Things We Love is full of moments where there is certainly more than meets the ear on first, second, and even the third encounter. “L’enfer ce n’est pas les autres c’est moi” is probably Euvrie at his most minimal, but it’s also a reminder that the piano/combination can still weave a mesmerizing fabric when done correctly. “Mass” is “My dreams are dead…”‘s younger brother set to a low simmer, achieving the same ends through more somber means. “God Is Your Loneliness” is wisely placed first, letting all who are curious know that The Eye of Time isn’t just another one-man electronic band; instead, Marc Euvrie is a musician who can make his music do whatever he needs it to do. It’s hard to imagine any of the following MYTH releases upping this ante.

RATING 8 / 10