by Alissa Ordabai
– Sr. Columnist —
After gaining notoriety in the guitar virtuoso circles in the late Nineties with his avant-garde Heavy Metal outfit Mörglbl, French master chopsman Christophe Godin didn’t rest on his laurels. The following decades saw him delve into reality-bending experiments with styles and genres ranging from Flamenco to Jazz, expanding his vision with each new record. His phenomenal technique and erudition navigated those experimental journeys throughout the contemporary music terrain, each time producing exciting, highly personal, fresh takes on the genres he touched.
This time, after an 18-month hiatus, Godin teams up with fellow countrymen Philippe Bussomet (bass), Franck Vaillant (drums), and Mederic Collignon (bass, keys) taking this explorative spirit further to combine Jazz, Prog Rock, and Godin’s own brand of Heavy Metal. The result is a record full of unexpected juxtapositions of moods and colors, but also meaningful in-depth research into how today 20th-century popular genres can amicably co-exist within one track instead of going to war on competing radio stations.
Languid elegance of complex Jazz progressions set over shifting time signatures and punctuated by Godin’s raunchy guitar, peppered with hints of world music and Seventies-style Prog, all merge so organically and so unexpectedly, you forget the distinctions between styles and simply enjoy the trip. Think Chicago jamming with Pantera while collaborating on a soundtrack to a Sci-fi film. But far from smoothing the differences between the genres with superficiality, the method here is to examine their most glaring differences. And as with all paradoxes, the contradiction is only an impression that conceals — and eventually reveals — a perfectly logical truth: the more eclectic the music, the greater is the truth it reveals about our shared condition.
Genre: Heavy Metal, Jazz Fusion, Prog Rock, Experimental
Lineup:
Christophe Godin – guitar
Philippe Bussomet – bass
Franck Vaillant – drums
Mederic Collignon – bass, keys
Track listing:
1. Vax’one
2. Head Cleaner
3. Krom
4. Raja
5. Brrrutus
6. Tolondule
7. Listen to the Silence
Label: Le Triton
Online: http://www.christophegodin.com/waxin-2/
Hardrock Haven rating: 
(7 / 10)
