It didn't take long for 'Chris Engels' to release a new studio recording, because after 'Arcane Sonic' dating from April 2024, he offers us a new album, 'The Story Of Enja', which continues in the symphonic progressive style that we already knew in his previous productions. We are taken this time, in the company of the elf 'Enja', to the depths of an enchanted forest in which we follow our heroin in her various adventures. We don't know much more about the addition of female vocals, but, in parallel with 'CEN-ProjekT', 'Chris Engels' composed and produced two other albums under the name 'Sophie Brown and Friends' (eponymous album Sophie Brown and Friends' and 'The Country of Silent Woods' released on July 25 and August 5 respectively) and which feature before female vocals in pop melodic atmospheres. On the website of this new project, we learn that 'Sophie Brown' is in fact an avatar who also participated in 'CEN-ProjekT' which confirms the fact that these female vocals are certainly generated by artificial intelligence. I'll let you judge this kind of process, but, for my part, I hope that it will be used to the right extent, without excessive drift.
Concerning this latest album from 'CEN-ProjekT', I found myself a few decades back with prestigious names that came to mind like 'Genesis', 'Yes', 'Barclay James Harvest' or 'King Crimson'. After the instrumental introduction 'Intro' which prepares our journey in this enchanted forest, 'Born in the Enchanted Forest' begins the story with the birth of the Elf 'Enja' in a melodious atmosphere and the alternation between the sweet song of the Elf and the male choirs is magnificent. We continue with the meeting with the prince with a magnificent a cappella introduction and the flute sounds bring a Celtic side, the melodic lines recalling 'Genesis', 'Duke' period. Follows 'The Quest for the Crystal Flower' which begins in an atmosphere like 'King Crimson' and shows an ethereal and pastoral face bringing us back to the beginning of 'Barclay James Harvest', then, 'The Rescue of the Moonstone Dragon' continues in this atmosphere conducive to escape with delicious vocal harmonies bringing a feeling of beneficial serenity. 'The Dance of the Will-o'-the-Wisps' picks up a bit of steam with some very high pitched 'Yessian' chants and the atmosphere is radiant, then the introduction of 'The Guardian of the Ancient Oak' takes us back a few decades when the 'Pink Floyds' released their first albums with short songs, and continues at a slow tempo in a new bucolic title, alternating peaceful acoustic parts with sections where we let ourselves be lulled by the rhythm of the bass. With 'The Melody of the River Sprite', Chris takes us into a heavier composition with some more sustained guitar riffs and a very original contrast between the two vocals, clear and high-pitched feminine and masculine while restrained, then, 'The Guidance of the Ancient Druid' tells the story of the meeting between 'Enja' and a druid in an equally ethereal atmosphere with beautiful alternations of intensity, the whole thing making me think again of 'Genesis'. And to end in style, 'The Triumph Of Elven Heroin' sees the Elf 'Enja' become a heroine in the legends of Elfland' and this last title sums up the album very well with this peaceful and luminous symphonic progressive with a delicious last chorus.
In summary, 'Chris Engels' is not only a wonderful storyteller by taking us once again into a wonderful world with this Elf 'Enja', but also an outstanding musician who continues his path in the world of progressive, mixing different influences of this style through the ages and, even if we have the confirmation that some vocal parts are artificially generated (it's hard to tell the difference!), we abandon ourselves once again to these beautiful melodies that come to delicately caress our senses... | |
