If you could try to imagine the French version of the psychedelic blues/ hard rock band GRAVEYARD, SOUL MANIFEST would be the fitting result and their Hard Rock psychedelia that sometimes reminds the frenetic alter-ego of Brant Bjork (note also that the cover artwork is made by Johan Jaccob, known for his cover/poster work with Brant Bjork, GLOWSUN and KARMA TO BURN) or the male edition of SUBROSA, but that's another story. This act, formed 2 years ago, wants to live the dream via music and travel us back in time, in the glorious decade of the 70s, having as main characteristic the organ melodies and the classic Hard Rock riffage. If you consider yourself lover of bands like WITCH, GRAVEYARD and BLACK SABBATH of course, you have to make a stop here, at the debut "White Season" and enjoy SOUL MANIFEST's melodies, having in mind though that France doesn't have any endless deserts with hallucinogen oasis.

Through the 38 minutes of "White Season", you are gonna find pure 70s hard rock riffage, some nice 'n' loose bluesy tunes and an exquisite, sensitive voice behind the mic, sprinkled by stardust and dreams you could find 4 decades ago. From the opening "Dead Man" (yeap, I did the same association with the band, too) and its organ-ic nature, till the two ambrosial parts of the self-titled track, split in two different songs, you'll be able to travel between clouds without paying a ticket. SOUL MANIFEST's feeling is so strong and pure that can allure you, especially if you belong to the party of people that called themselves lotus-eaters, making even the inapposite English accent of the singer sounded magical.

However, my favorite track from the album still remains the epic "The Light/ Who's The Rock'n'Rolla ??" because of its duration that reaches the 9 minutes, its additional female vocals in the refrain/bridge and that catchy guitar riff in the background that doesn't leave you ways to escape. If it's still raining outside and the cold is rigid and thick, there is a bunch of dreamers out there, from the land of fragrant and aesthesia that will travel you in your personal and secret promise-land. I can assure you that.

PS: Can you see behind the blonde's purple eyelids in the album's cover? I dare you!