Heilung : " Futha"

With members spanning Northern Europe... Norway, Germany and Denmark, they pool elements from each country. They use a Iron Age Nose dialect. The instruments they use are primitive things. These primitive things are however recorded with modern technology as a few songs in you begin to hear how modern studio technology enhances them. I  like the chanted groove the vocals create in the last few minutes of the opener, but it seems like there is a great deal of atmosphere that could be trimmed in order to make the most of this song. "Othan" is the first song that brings these sound together in a highly compelling fashion. While Wardruna, is in the neighborhood of what is being done these guys are more atmospheric and darker. At times not a minimal. The vocals stray from using folk tones, as at one point one of the female vocals sounds more like Bjork. 

This alum be great on hallucinogens.There is a surreal flow to "Traust'. It relies on the vocals to really pull it together. progresses they do balance out atmosphere and keep it focused on begin a song. The ritualistic aspects of what they do remain prominent. "Svanrand" is more of a normal song, for what they do. The guttural throat signing set against the lighter female vocal. Drumming provides a backdrop. There are a few "songs" that are really just interludes as they never lock on anything with enough melody to become a real song.Some points in time it reminds me of music from the VVitch. "Elddansurin" locks into more of a groove that will inspire primal dancing. The vocals are a gruff male chant. This eventually has waves of female vocals that wash it away. 

The album closes with a intense 14 minute song. It works off a throat singing chant and drumming.It has a similar pulse, though it ebbs some dynamically. It has more of a drone than a groove. I can see this inducing a trance like state. One drugs it might make some one lose their mind. The monotony of this gets broken up by sung vocals . This  does have the kind of pulse that thumps perhaps not with the same bass as dance music , but it creates the same trance. Or this was how people got in that space in the iron age. With their last album the popularity of this band had a boom and I do not see that waning with this album. I will give this album a 9 as they have created anoither peice of their legacy with no aspirations of selling out. This was released on Season of Mist. r

Gothtober - Dead Can Dance : "Dionysus"

Written in two acts the album clocks in at 36 minutes. The first act consists of "Sea Borne" , "Liberator of Minds" and "Dance of the Bacchantes". The opening song is a dark droning piece that is almost seven minutes. It would be great for ritual, but not a song in the sense of it's something you casually listen to on your iPod in shuffle mode. It works more of the hypnotic atmosphere. It is not unusual for their songs to have this more sound track like quality. It is a wild juxtaposition to their previous album which was more accessible in it's song structure. "Liberator of Minds" does have a more serpentine groove that you could dance to if you were into touch with your more sensual primal side. In other words when it begins to move I immediately thought, my girl friend could dance to this.

At this point in the album it could be a Lisa Gerrard solo album. This is something I would have preferred when I first got into these guys , but after seeing them live I gained an appreciation for Brendan Perry. There is more motion to "the Dance of Bacchantes". Gerrard is not swinging for the fences and belting it out in a grandiose operatic manner, but using a great deal of restraint. Some of the more animalistic chants remind me of Diamanda Galas. Hearing the more Scottish influence on the opening notes to "the Mountain" I knew Brendan Perry was coming . So I was glad to hear his voice crop  up.  It is not what you normally expect from him as he is not singing in English and is using his voice more like an instrument than the kind of folk story telling he normally brings to the table. This song also has Gerrard accenting him in a call and response . I always like when both of them are on the same track. And so begins the second act.

Lisa returns to center stage again on "the Invocation". There is more of a middle eastern flavor to the modes of this song. It also finds a sensual groove. "the Forest" finds Perry singing in his higher register. I always think of him as a baritone , but here he gets up there in an almost androgynous fashion without going into falsetto. They give another call and response on the darker and moodier trance like pulse of " Psychopomp". This album is almost ebbing and flowing like a DMT trip as here is more of a simmering after math from being shot up into more sublime grooves. They were successful at what they intended to do , while I miss the more folk elements of what Brendan does, I respect this album and you can't argue against it as there is no one who does what they do so masterfully so even though I went into this wanting something more song oriented that crafted something truly otherworldly here.

Gothtober - Anna Von Hausswolff :"Dead Magic"

I am not sure why it's taken me this long to really check this chick out.Her newest album came out back in March so I am late to the party here.  She pretty ambitious and is not content like some of her peers leading you into a dark drone, as her songs have a more adventurous feel to their arrangement that has more in common with Dead Can Dance than it does Chelsea Wolfe. It's more like if Lisa Gerrard covered all of Brendan Perry's songs. Though in a much more experimental fashion as she is prone to go off into Swans like atmosphere. So there is a fucking lot going on here, but it's dark and I like it. It falls into the weird exotic brand of goth that is some where between world music and neo-folk. Though organs and synths seem to be the driving forces of instrumentation.

"The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra" is darker and more like Diamanda Galas meets the Swans. It has a heavy droning pound , but evolves into something very lush. There is even guitar, like rock guitar, think Pink Floyd not metal, but it's good. I'm not into 16 minute songs, but She blew me away with the first two songs so I am going to trust her on this though I can already hear where there are two and a half minutes she could have shaved off the beginning so in truth if we are really going to nit pick here, where that is what I do this could have been a 12 minute song. It really takes off with her vocals five and a half minutes in. While I don't hate what is transpiring with the sprawling thing I would have preferred to songs that gave me more of what I got from the first two. I can hear elements of that in where she ends up going, but I'm selfish and I want more of what I want. By the end of the song it does pay off as she takes you to sonic places just as exotic as Dead Can Dance. Sometimes it is hard to hear where the pipe organ begins and the other instruments end.


"the Marble Eye" is darker and sounds like it could be the soundtrack to an 80s horror movie about vampire elves. It is however an instrumental song and I feel without her voice it's a pointless endeavor, but that little interlude was good for what it was . The album closes with a light folk ballad that is given more of a Julee Cruise treatment, so if David Lynch isn't using this he is missing out on a good opportunity. I'll go ahead and round this up to a 9.5, as it does get a little thick on the atmosphere and floats away, but when the album is good it's beyond incredible and more than makes up for  drifting off.

the Weekly Play list VOL- 8 Sonic Temples

Many of the past playlists have focused on either a particular artist or theme. This time I am going more for the sound of the soul. I wanted a departure from the more conventional forms of popular music consumed by the masses. Music is a universal language . This phrase has been said many times with not defined meaning to it. So what I have done is complied some of my favorite genre defying artists though most would be considered folk music of their cultures of as Brendan Perry said when I saw Dead Can Dance live “We’re going to play you a cover song, it’s about 500 years old” . So this is music that defies trends . None of this would make commercial radio, as it’s not about hooks it is about sounds that connect with the spirit.


 It is believed by some that “om” is the vibration caused by “the big bang” . Setting into motion matter from spirit. I am not going to debate metaphysics on this blog , I will save that sort of thing for Cvlt Nation. If you have followed my work on Cvlt Nation then you know I am out of the broom closet when it comes to my interest in the occult. So these are songs I find fitting for ritual. They range culturally from Egypt to Norway , yet hold the same exotic current. It hits you somewhere between a drone and slither. So if music is a language this is not for the consuming masses , but getting in touch with a transcendent place beyond the mundane. Enjoy, happy journeys.


Wardruna - "Hagal"

 


 Dead Can Dance- "Yulunga"


 


Peter Gabriel- "Of These Hope"


 



Hang Massive - "Once Again"

 

 Zywiolak - "Hela"


 

 Heilung - "Alfadhirhait"


 

 Anna Von Hausswolf- "the Mysterious Vanishing of Electra"


 

 Folknery - "Karchata"

 


 Natasha Atlas & Trans Global Underground - "Ali Mullah Lament"



  Odo Ensemble - " Nami Nami"

Volur : "Disir"

This trio from Canada, replaces guitar with distorted violin.They are darker and somewhat leaning towards being a doom band even though the opening song is more mid-tempo. The vocals split the difference between the ales bassist and the female violinist. They do have a unique sound, though I did space out a little during the violin solo of the first song. Which when I tuned back in had to give credit to her a using the instrument to replicate a guitar tone to the point of me thinking for a second it was a guitar solo I was tuning out. I am unsure why they released this album back in June and I am just now starting to hear a tiny bit of buzz about it.


 They keep the atmosphere thick going into the long and winding "the Deep Minded". The bass mainly drives this one. The violin solo on this one sounds more like a violin solo. I am however confused as to why people are saying they blend elements of classical music into their sound. So to set the record straight, just because you have violin it doesn't mean you are playing classical music.Even the more scenic interlude "White Phantom" is not classical music, post-rock or slo-core played with a violin. The fourteen minute closer is good background music. It feels like Dead Can Dance being merged with east European folk music. It's hard not to drone out to it. I'll give this album an 8.5, though if you are really into instrumentals you might round it up to a 9. I look forward to hearing more from them in the future, I would like to hear them in a heavier and more song focused mood, but I totally appreciate this for what it is. If I still did drugs I would get a lot more play time out of this.

Spectral Lore : " Gnosis"

This album begins with a more metal churn than some of their more recent stuff that has gone more Pink Floydy. This is not to say that it is without experimentation , because they are not shying away from that. Even though this excursion is 49 minutes long , they want to call it an ep,to point out how experimental this is according to their Bandcamp page, which comes off a little contrived. Perhaps they are referring to how much of this material makes up actual songs and not wandering jam. There is a similar pulse to the second song and title track of the album as there was to the first until they finds a more galloping riff. If there are whispers and screams around they are very low in the mix and accent the edges of the riff, which lumber up into something more like stoner rock than black metal. These guys are far from slouches and there is some excellent bass playing on this song.

The first of the two acoustic songs is "Averroes Search" . This one carries a similar exotic prog feel as the first two songs, but of course making no attempts to be heavy. It's excellent guitar work, not so sure about song writing as it simmers for almost five minutes before finding its groove. This is an album guitars will want to take note of , as it covers the ground once walked by the likes of Opeth, but in a darker context.They head back towards metal, though not the blacker kind, on "A God Made of Flesh and Consciousness". This is one of the album's more sonically intense and dynamic songs, though still more of a jam and less of a song even by the band's standards.They do speed up a little four minutes into the fourteen minute epic. At the midway point it breaks into a acoustic section with samples running faintly in the background. the guitar gets more aggressive than they have in some time, more at a mid paced thrash like attack. "For Aleppo" finds them breaking things back down for a mellower tone. This song seems to want to go some where , but doesn't it stays right where it started, some indulgent guitar playing over a static layer of synths. Aside from this these jams display another side of them musically, one that feels like a step closer to mainstream metal, but impressive in it's execution. I'll round this up to a 7 because it's not just a shred fest.


3.4

Leonino:"Naked Tunes"

Jorge Gonzales is the former vocalist for Los Prisioneros, who were one of the biggest Chilean acts  if not of all time then certainly dominated the 80's. Leonino is the name of Jorge's new project. "Naked Tunes" opens with  "I Think We Should Be Friends" doesn't carry that much of a Latin influence. It sounds like any number of new wave artists who crossed over into the 90's, Joe Jackson being the first that comes to mind. Jorge takes more of a soulful approach on the following "Don't Change Your Mind." that is very minimal except for his vocals which are spoken in a manner similar to rap. An intresting choice of delivery, not unlike his choices to  combines an odd array of organic instruments like harmonica in his work.

 The more upbeat "My Time is Gonna Come" has hints of Prince which I had detected in some of the earlier songs, but here it stands out in his phrasing, it is more along the lines of "Sign O the Times" . He dips into more of folk direction on "My Love Will Set You Free". The lyrics are sometimes shakey due to the fact English is not his first language, but he manages to sell you on them any way.The guy has sold over two million records to the production is far from an issue, and he knows what he is doing int terms of the way the vocals are sometimes layered. He has a decent pop voice that gets the job done. his strength is keeping on you toes like the surprising country elements that creep into the tail end of "My Love Will Set You Free" are unexpected. The only complaint is he sometimes hangs on the hook a little long that it comes close to wearing out it's welcome. "Not a Sound" finds an interesting electronic back drop.It makes me think of John Lennon trying his hand at Kraut rock. Marino Scopel lends vocals to the song as well. Jorge takes  a bizarre soulful turn on "How Many Times Did You Save My Soul" he once again gets by with a little help from his friends as Argenis Brito lends his talents to the track.The lyrics here are an improvement as he reflects on his struggles with addiction.

 The album takes a slower turn with the ballad "It Wasn't Mean to Me" . There is a slight Latin jazz flavor here.The song writing sounds like a mix of  Prince and the Plastic Ono band, not only here, but often the  backing vocals are layered very much like a Prince song. The Lennon comes from  how John Lennon gave every thing in his songs  lots of breathing room in this solo work. "After the Big War" has more of a Lennon feel to it. It's an upbeat folk with a slight Paul Simon cadence to it. "Down By the River" has a 90's feel to it, the guitars carry the Latin swing, the Prince once again struts it's stuff here as well. The Lyrics sound like they could have come from any 80's r&b slow jam. Where he really grabs my attention is on "There is a Light" that closes out the album. His vocals live up to the album's title "Naked Tunes" as it is all stripped down to layers of his voice  that are laid out and bared in beautiful harmony. It is layered as well like something Imogen Heap might have pulled off in her earlier work.The minimal piano that edges into the song doesn't take the focus of the vocals and only give  minimal support as an under current.

 It's clear Jorge is doing something right here if he consistently brings to mind greats like Prince and Lennon, though not the lyricist either one of those legends are, he does have a similar ear when it comes to arrangements and how to place the sounds on this record. Prince is a militant perfectionist so that's another testament to how good this album sounds. This guy has been at it for three decades, and his experience pays off on this album. It's not at all guitar driven , but simply quirky pop,so if you appreciate artists like Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello or Bryan Ferry's solo work, you can't say he really sounds like any of them ,but his music comes from a similar place and worth checking out.

Up From the Underground: Ximena Borges's Joyful Noise

I am more of a winter Solstice guy than X-mas, though I have a three year old who likes Christmas lights and and the thought of a big fat elf monger bringing toys, so it's celebrate it at least a Jack Skellington sense. So it wasn't until the second song that I realized this was a X-mas album. Ximena is pretty easy on the eyes so while perusing her Bandcamp page, I was distracted from this fact, though aware I was listening to very different arrangement of the Little Drummer.

This is an X-mas album for people who hate X-mas music. Lets face it the holidays are pretty goth as they have the highest suicide rates of the year, so the X-mas music that is piped in at the mall and on every radio station not twerking it after Thanksgiving is pretty depressing and not in the Morrissey way we like around here. This collection of acapella X-mas songs from around the world for the most part strays from the more conventional versions, with the exception of "Amazing Grace".

Ximena is an opera singer based out of New York, who funded this album through a Kickstarter campaign, so was pretty passionate about making this happen."Crunchy Drummer Boy" is not unlike some Rahzel and Mike Patton might have done if Peeping Tom covered this traditional choral or more playful version of what Bjork did on "Medulla". She seems to have fun on songs where she sets aside the hollow tone of technical operatic singing and explores the rang of sounds she can create with her voice. Some of the bell like chiming of her upper register reminds my of Elizabeth Fraiser of the Cocteau Twins.

Their is a slight Kate Bush like theatrical quality to Ximena's approach to " Oh Tannenbaum". It takes on a swanky 1940's jazz swing. "Divin Enfant" find the backing ground vocalizations creating a dripping blanket of ghostly snow flakes for the more traditional vocal to sit upon. I like the mournful quality to both this song and the somber tone of "Nino Lindo" which finds itself encircles more playful vocal accompaniment to provide a sonic juxtaposition . It captures what I feel to be the feeling of this season, the darkness of winter, that brings melancholy off set but the childhood wonderment.

The more experimental world music elements returns with the bossa nova elements in "Ana Viejo". The more operatic tone returns to her voice for "Christmastime is Here", though a dreamy jazz like quality echoes in the voices she paints around herself. The album continues to take a world tour though the various cultural expression of the holiday songs on "Luna Timbosa" though when it comes to labeling this world music, keep in mind she samples from much different flavors than say Dead Can Dance, even though this album has melancholy reflective moments its by no means dark.

"Noche de Bach" is her take on "Silent Night" and it's pretty faithful in terms of melody and arrangement. "Santa Baby" is far from the Madonna version, though it retains the ragtime sultry nature. Her take on "Amazing Grace" which I don't normally think of as a holiday song, has enough soul in it to be a convincing performance of the gospel classic. She has a great voice and her experimentations with her voice have paid off in this passion project that is worth your time, if  the normal X-mas fare doesn't cut it for you. Would like to her her voice put to use in her future endeavors which I hope are just as adventurous.I normally hate X-mas music so for her to sway me is a testament to what she has crafted.      

Dead Can Dance : Anastasis

Even though I have tickets to see them in couple of weeks I had no clue this was coming out until stumbling across the torrent for this so lets get into the first album in 16 years.

Right off the bat on the opener "Children of the Sun" Brendan Perry's voice sounds great, sure there's the whole new age lounge music vibe it conjures. The synth brass in the last minute creates a nice build and as you can expect a collage of varied instrumentation begins to color the edges of the song.

Lisa first sings on the second track "Anabasis" it's no "host of the Seraphim" but slightly moody. This one has taken the most listens to drag me into it, further listens cause me to appreciate the layers in the percussion,I would like to have been a fly on the wall for these sessions as it's often hard to make a clear differentiation as to what instruments are electronically generated and which are acoustic. After 16 years I would have like for a more dramatic return from Lisa and might not have minded if this song fell later in the album.


"Agape" brings out the opium den slink I was waiting for and is automatically classic Dead Can Dance.

"amnesia" starts off in a straight forward piano and drum pattern, very western in feel and lending credence to any goth label they have accumulated or if Leonard Cohen was covering a Sade song.

Kiko- builds from an almost trip hop beat into a sensual slither of sitar.

ironically the percussive "Opium" picks up the pace ever so slightly, Brendan's croon returns and though the lyrics aren't about drug use, they are about escape I do find myself wondering in the songs ethereal pulse about what their drug consumption has been like over the years because like all their other albums this one would be perfect to either get high or have sex to. I have already written a sex and music blog so look for a druggies guide to metal perhaps? Which brings us to why aside from the fact they are awesome am I writing a review on a very non-metal band who at first listen has even less in common with metal than Swans who are at least heavy just in another sense.

Well this along with the rest of Dead Can Dances body of work is dark enough for me to qualify it for this blog, so if the Cure or Fields of Nephillim puts out another album expect for it to get reviewed as well. Dead Can Dance has influenced a multitude of folk metal, and doom metal bands like My Dying Bride, Night Wish, Rotting Christ, and most that have any sort of gothic influence to their sound.

"Return of the She-king" sounds like a pulp fantasy novel with a drag queen Conan as it's protagonist, it has a languid majesty to like the love them from Conan and moves like a procession piece. The effects on the vocal mix gives Lisa's voice more of a Cocteau Twins feel. I was won over on this one where Perry's vocals come in, have always wanted to hear more interplay between their voices.

Perry's voice goes into more dramatic places on this one than Lisa, the crescendo he brings to the first verse of "all in good time" is impressive for a singer of his age to belt like that and his voice has a very warm resonance to it. A simple arrangement of strings behind his voice. In some ways it might be considered anti climactic, but this album is dynamically subdued , I wouldn't call it flat, in some ways it reminds me of Sade's "lovers rock" album in tone as both are subdued through out.

In scoring this album , the only competition Dead Can Dance has is themselves, so measuring this up to their previous work it is indeed comparable, the production value might even be better, in terms of mood it seems more sensual than the transcendental nature of other albums, so I could argue it doesn't have the epic lord of the rings soundtrack feel, perhaps this is due to where in their lives Perry and Gerrad are. I could certainly have stood to have hear Perry playing more guitar, his sense of Bardic Americanna I felt alway created an interesting juxtaposition of sound to their albums. There is something very enduring and bittersweet about listening to this knowing this is more than likely the last time I will hear studio work from them, so it's a very relaxed goodbye. I would have to give this one a 9.5, as I feel when put up against their other other more dynamic albums, it might not be as consistant bwent he marks they do hit side side by side with their best. It could grow on me over time and will probably not be thought of in any different light than the rest of their discography,and let's face even mediocre Dead Can Dance is still better than almost everything else.