Review Summary: The Demians project, by French musician Nicolas Chapel, returned in 2010 with a second album!
Still keeping the contract with Inside Out Music, who returned to work with the group editing this "Mute", the production was once again in charge of Chapel himself as well as most of the instruments. Fortunately, in this case Chapel corrected some of the shortcomings of his debut, such as having a real drummer in the figure of Gaël Hallier.
As for the music, we continue to find a very guitar-heavy prog with quite a few touches of alternative rock and post- grunge influences (Feel Alive is a good example), but this time something less Americanized, which brings this album closer to what European groups like The Pineapple Thief, Riverside and Amplifier were doing at the time, influences that were already present in "Building an Empire" anyway.
Fortunately, the compositional level of this "Mute" is also quite good, while being less predictable (it doesn't abuse crescendos so much) offering us a record that, although it is not perfect, can be enjoyed from beginning to end, resulting in an interesting and stimulating experience in almost its entirety.
It's a shame that after this album, probably due to the lack of commercial success, Demians had to self-publish their next two records, because given the quality of "Building an Empire" and this "Mute", it's obvious that Nicolas Chapel deserved better luck!
Best Tracks: Porcelain (very interesting instrumental work, especially at the beginning of the song), Black Over Gold (a showcase for Chapel's nice voice), Overhead (I love those oriental touches, as well as that explosion of guitars towards the end) and Hesitation Waltz (another of Chapel's typical crescendos, very intense and with hints a la Dead Soul Tribe and Tool)
