Demain à l'aube by Gerald Massois

Demain à l'aube di Gerald Massois, a French musician, composer, and arranger whose signature style is symphonic rock.

In 2018, he released his debut album, "Le vol erratique d'un papillon," a self-produced work exclusively available digitally.

This is his second album, Demain à l'aube, released digitally in 2024 and on CD in 2025.

Musically, it's a combination of complex arrangements, various styles perfectly combined, and orchestral sections that could be part of classical works, all performed with a mix of classical, acoustic, rock, progressive rock, and electronic instruments.

The singing is in French, and the voice is extremely beautiful, with great interpretive ability, beautiful tone, and range. It's unwavering when the going gets tough, allowing emotions to shine through and arouse them, with great passion and intensity, but also precision.

I was amazed by the multitude of styles, all perfectly executed, all superbly connected, discontinuous in sound but capable of giving continuity and meaning to the songs, with an instrument not often found prominent in progressive rock—the piano—which not only competes admirably with the classical and melodic style alongside winds and strings and even just the voice, but also harmonizes extraordinarily with the electric guitar, in classic rock, progressive rock, and even in some progressive metal genres, an exceptional piano playing skill. An album that seems to have been played by master orchestrators, each style played superbly, without flaws or weaknesses.

In some images...

We find whirlwinds typical of hard rock bordering on progressive metal, then repeated on the piano, then on the guitar, and then all together.

Piano and keyboards that form the basis for guitar solos and a powerful and precise rhythm section. Synths infuse a haunting, then epic, atmosphere, with keyboards playing "vintage" solos typical of symphonic rock, but there are many variations of sound, often on the same theme.

The alternation is beautiful, balancing the weight of the keyboards, the piano, and the guitar, which alternate in virtuosity and complement each other in the more orchestral sections.

Some songs begin with voice and piano, with romantic and melancholic atmospheres, and then the pieces shift, the rhythm accelerating with counter-tempos and a hard prog mood on piano riffs, followed by again expansive sections with an epic atmosphere, alternating between them and with the progressive sound on keyboard solos.

Epic sections in which the piano becomes a rock instrument over the pressing rhythms of sumptuous drums.

Slowdowns in classic rock and restarts in hard rock, shifts into progressive with the piano as the protagonist, a mix of styles that are a delight for us proggers.

The piano is placed where you least expect it, and you wonder why it hasn't always been there.

Beautiful choruses.

Beautiful are the tempos that double, return, and halve, the syncopated guitar strokes in metal style, the strings that take center stage in classical style, the choruses and epic atmospheres of symphonic rock, the soft and romantic emotions of ballads, all even in the same song.

I don't list the tracks; I deliberately don't go track by track; this is an album that should be listened to in its entirety in its sequence, and each song is an element of the whole.

My favorite songs are Une colline sans nom, La Title track, and Les passagers du vent, songs I listen to on repeat. The opening track, 1939, is beautiful, very classical, and the composition is splendid.

An incredible album, with many strengths, including, and beyond everything I've already mentioned, the vocals and the best arrangements I've heard in recent years.

For me, it's a masterpiece, a true rock opera, with many perfectly harmonized styles, without sacrificing emotion, melody, or adrenaline.

It deserves a vinyl version and a live performance that I'd do anything to see.

I absolutely recommend it

The Tracks
1. 1939 (3:01)

2. Les ennemis d'hier (4:33)

3. La bataille de l'Ebre Pt. 1 (5:22)

4. La bataille de l'Ebre Pt. 2 (10:41)

5. Les trains d'ombres (5:51)

6. A Hill Without a Name (2.32pm)

7. L'encre des maux (4:46)

8. Day in the morning (1.39pm)

9. Les passagers du vent (5:14)

Duration 66:39

Line-Up
- Gérald MASSOIS - Vocals, guitars and a bit of everything else
- Maxx GILLARD - Drums
- Jonathan TAVAN - Bass
- Nicolas GARDEL - Piano and Synthesizers
- Gionatan CARRADONA - Piano Virtuoso (4)
- Pierre-Emmanuel GILLET - Classical and Acoustic Guitar (3.6)
- Yohann GROS - Piano, Celesta, Hammond B3 (7.9)
- Pascal BAILLEUL - Whistler (6)
- Sarah TANGUY - Cello (5.8)