Ataraxia : 'Quasar"

The opening track of this band from Italy is nothing short of spell binding. It's a blend of folk with a fey like atmosphere not unlike the Cocteau Twins. Their lead singer's voice is almost operatic , but not like the cheesy symphonic metal bands that tries to sound like Sarah Brightman. She uses her voice as an instrument that creates as much of the ambiance as any of the instruments. Yes is it very dreamy. I am not sure I would call this dark wave as it goes in the elegant ethereal direction of goth. There are synths. But nothing here is melodramatic.  These guys have been around a while as they have already released 25 albums so they know what they are going for. This album does make me miss Dragon Con more as it is the kind of music I looked to load my iPod with every year for it.

The only draw back is sometims it becomes to atmospheric that is sounds like background music at a new age book shop. They have a great sound though it is so abstract and dreamy it is hard for it to coagulate into a song. "Sex is a Prayer' does have that hypnotic drone , but is soilid enough of a melody to find it self as a song. "Raidence" doubles down on the ambiance. It has a ritualistic beauty but nothin in the way of a conventional rock song. You have to listen to this much in the same way as a Dead Can Dance album. There is repeated samples throughout this album of voices talking about number sequences.There is a science fiction theme to this album which is weird considering how earth based and folky their sound is.

Even more earth bound and folky is " the Timeless" . This is another dreamy tune , but easier to follow than the more ritualistic moments of this album. The synths on "Beyondness" lend themselves a little more to the sci fi theme. There is more form and function to this song , but it is still and more soaring narrative. Three minutes in it break down into the tinkle of a piano and then takes off in a more Cocteau direction. The groove it kicks into floats off before the song is over. There is another track listed as the bonus track it is decent but goes off into a more symphonic feel so since these songs flow together well I am going to not count it when rating this album. Since I brought that up I will give this album a 9. It is easy to leave on and let play which goes a long way with me. This album drops October 16th.