Recorded at the Crescendo Festival, Montreal’s Hamadryad play an interesting set of technically challenged numbers, pondering upon the jam band and avant-garde scheme of things, where their basis of both classic & neo progressive rock is the backbone of their melodic existence. Yes, this is a highly ‘musician-oriented’ release, being filled with soloing; keyboard and guitars rival each other with the rhythmic staccatos of the drums and bass, loosely executing their performance in the live fashion.

Like Gong crossed with Marillion, or early-King Crimson jamming with Pallas, Hamadryad’s spontaneous musical stance at times is hard to follow, often flowing with smooth melodies, then going into their wild tangents (most notable on “Watercourse Hymn” & the ethereal “Still the Laugh”); yet their chaotic approach is played out through and through on some sections such as “Amora Demonis” while they ease it back in a more consistent manner at other times, such as the neo ditty titled “Alien Spheres,” giving the crowd their all in many different ways.

Live in France 2006 is for those who seek out highly technical and impulsive musicianship based music, truly adhering to the world of modernized art rock; for which this is a record of madcap melodies.