This album with a fragile yet dark and creepy vibe that waltzes in the shadows, as the tinkle of a piano is a candle in the looming darkness it eventually explodes into. Yet the circus waltz continues like something from a horror movie, as the twisted larny spews the vocals forth. I like what they are doing on the opening track, but I could not listen to an entire album of the chaos they are presenting, and I hope to hear them melodically expand upon it. There are a few black metal bands that dance in similar realms of madness. For the second song, they take things in a more circus direction that is more Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum than Mr.Bungle. A great deal of this rests on the tortured vocals being a primary mode of expression, with the sung vocals serving as the chorus behind them.
The guitar shifts to the twang of a funky groove going into "Offering" with a call and response between the two vocal stylings. There is more chaos and carnage in the almsot thrashing outburst the song races off into, than grandiose songwriting heard in the first two songs that I found more impressive. Not to say there are not melodic touches to this one, they jsut do not hold equal weight. "Ruffled" is more of an interlude, before things get moving with "Panache," when they go off into a jazzy big band strut not unlike the Cherry Poppin Daddies, but the metal begins to boil to the surface.
"Collywobbles" feels more like a black metal band playing a Danny Elfman-penned score for a Tim Burton movie. The pace accelerates to a rapid thrashing not unlike Sigh. They are just throwing everything at this song but hooks. The rapid cycling bipolar manner this is shot out is a lot to digest. "Splinter" finds its groove, which makes it feel like one of the album's more well-arranged songs. The harsher vocals take on a more rabid Gollum tone. The angular jerking to "Jim Jams " feels like another exercise in excess until they go into a groove that has a disco undercurrent that aligns the heavier sections."Kindling" might be the most Mr Bungle-like moment, but it is also the most infused with jumbled chaos. I will round this down to an 8.5, which is still pretty impressive. You have to be in the mood for chaotic symphonic metal. If you are, then it will be more than worth your time. This sonic carnival of carnage drops October 17th.
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