Those listening to "Lazarus Dilemma" via the bands Bandcamp page will miss out on the opening track "Intro", a mood piece featuring spoken narrative (language unknown) set against a backdrop of sparse and exotic sounding plucked/hammered strings. That out of the way we get to the real meat and potatoes of this album with "Revival", the song documenting our hero/anti-hero’s transition from living to living dead against a soundtrack of galloping bass and drum groove off set with ear-pleasing guitar motifs and licks, the songs recurring lyrical theme asking "Why the hell you woke me up?" in clean melodic tones. Things take a turn for the calmer with next track "Cave of Knowledge", albeit routinely interrupted with more caustic dynamics, with Winter's clean. almost falsetto vocal describing his surroundings over restrained steady drumming, thrumming chord progressions and some deliciously throbbing bass that really comes into its own in the songs hazy and trippy second third. "Strange Traveller Intro" serves as the prequal to its sister piece "Strange Traveller" both songs tackling the realities faced by our reluctant vampire as he comes to terms with his need for feasting on the living and his need for revenge on his "saviour", the former song a folk-like dirge, the latter a laid-back proggish lament with occasional bursts into doomic dankness. "Cyber City" opens with Kondratowicz beating out a steady drum tattoo around which guitarists Nowark and Winter crank out a mixture of crunchy riffage and tasteful licks all of which are anchored to earth by Papiernik's highly impressive bass work, Winter also adds a little harmonica into the mix which given the songs quite heavy dynamic should not work but does. Next we have "Keep On Pushing" a song we defy anyone not to fall in love with, its easy on the ear mix of lead and expertly layered backing vocals, its catchy hard not to sing-along-to chorus and its gradual evolution from lilting balladry into galloping heavy rock is a masterclass in songcraft. Next up is "Hoodoo" a song with a rock opera feel not unlike that employed in parts of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's groundbreaking "Jesus Christ Superstar" musical, a mixture of singing and tuneful narrative set to a backdrop of bluesy prog. Next we get a moment of quiet reflection with the appropriately titled "Lament" a short but beautiful instrumental piece written for synth and guitar. its onto penultimate number "Final Clash" next, a glorious mish mash of chugging heavy rock and soaring prog/psych decorated in a strange but totally compelling blend of swooping high and semi-spoken vocals and occasional shouted chanting that then brings us to closing song "Anx" a doom tinted and slightly bluesy finale boasting a mantra like vocal that repeats the phrase "denn die todten reiten schnell", a line from a Gottfried August Bürger's poem "Lenore" which Bram Stoker later inserted into his famous novel "Dracula", a phrase which Stoker translated as meaning "for the dead travel fast".
Progressive metal, heavy psych, hard rock, folk
and even a little rock opera-like arrangement all shoe-horned into an
album with a concept that juggles the story of one of Christ's miracles with vampire mythology.
Thorny (excuse the pun) subject matter and something that could easily have
gone keel up in the wrong hands but to the bands credit they have pulled off
something really special with "Lazarus Dilemma",
it is an album that does not preach or take a religious stance it just tells a
"what if" type tale
against musical backdrops that are at times jaw-dropping.
Check it out ...
No comments:
Post a Comment