Composed of Gautier Serre and Laure Le Prunenec, the last thing French duo known as Corpo-Mente wants to do is to conform. I stumbled into Corpo-Mente by a complete and total accident, not expecting this hard to categorize avant-garde performer to arrive via Blood Music. But blessed this accident be, I have been enjoying Corpo-Mente for a week now.

In Corpo-Mente baroque-core artist Gautier Serre contributes all of the compositions, produces and plays many musical instruments (with several guest players), while Laure Le Prunenec, aka Ricinn, shines with her multi vocal talents. Not even sure which component is more important to the whole Corpo-Mente experience as there is so much happening in these multifaceted grotesque pieces sung in unnerved Diamanda Galas-like operatic vocals ranging from chesty adult lady to a rebellious girl. Always melodic, sometimes strangely (Scylla), the album’s songs either provide French folk references (tremolo in Fia, harmonica in Equus), open up with tender flow of dark piano and strings (Velandi), or become jazzy with a violin piccolo (Equus).

The album’s songs rarely end up the way they start. Acoustic strum and pent up emotions of Ort catch an electric spark and explode. Dorma, with its voice modulations from lower mid-range to boyish, hints at huge emotional pressure and suppressed feelings, until strings come providing a glimpse of an outlet. Tragic opening of Dulcin finds such outlet sooner through slower distortion. Operatic pain swells up, then dies suddenly in a violin solo. Saelli manages to never let go of edginess and aforementioned pain, while Encell just succumbs to pressure, finding no more strength for a final farewell.

If you don't need every piece of music in your life to be heavy and definitely metal, if you like Madder Mortem Agnete Kirkevaag’s vocal varieties, if you can rock to Diablo Swing Orchestra (when they are not goofing off), and if Therion’s Les fleurs du mal specifically hit a major spot, I strongly encourage you to consider Corpo-Mente to spend an hour with. The mixture of eccentric opera, dark electro-rock and French folk music they created is outstandingly unique.