PRESENT - THIS IS NOT THE END

 

• present: this is not the end
      (2024, cd, USA, cuneiform)

Belgian progressive rock band Present was formed by guitar player Roger Trigaux in 1979.
"This Is Not The End" is their tenth album. It got recorded between 2019 and 2024, during which Roger passed away (March 2021).

Despite it’s title, This is NOT the end, is, indeed, the final release by the legendary Rock In Opposition band Present, as founder and composer Roger Trigaux died during its recording.

The final result is blindingly precise works of syncopated instruments, all seemingly coming from different angles but ultimately working together as a cohesive, if powerfully overwhelming whole.

Trigaux admits that “I use lengthy repetition and polyrhythmics to push not only the listener but myself to a paroxysm on the intensity.” In this sense, Trigaux’s music can be compared to that of the late Nigerian rock musician Fela Kuti, who gradually built his lengthy songs through repetition and rhythm to generate a visceral experience, and whose live performances were legendary. Also like Fela, Trigaux’ music has an intellectual, thematic subtext, hidden beneath the music’s physical sound.

All the instrumentalists contribute mightily and this is absolutely a group effort of tremendously impressive, rehearsal-intensive rock, and, very sadly to me, possibly the last of its kind.

"This project took 5 years. Roger died in the middle of its creation, the finalization of which was taken care of by Pierre Chevalier, Kurt Budé and Udi Koomran. But the work is accomplished."
– Michel Besset [Roger's long time friend and producer of This is Not the End]