“Welcome to the ceremony of blood, it is one that only the most foolish will enter and only the hardiest will survive. You have been warned that diabolical madness lurks around every corner and traps are placed where you risk both body and soul. You will be amazed and confounded as you teeter on the precipice of your sanity. Are you ready to dance?”
Of course this is a speech that should be intoned in a sinister fashion and in the voice of the great Vincent Price for full effect but it kind of sums up the sorts of movies that a band such as Blood Ceremony steep their craft within and we wouldn’t have it any other way. The Canadians are back with their second full length album following on from the solid foundations laid by their debut self title disc of 2008. Frankly I have been drowning in the doomed dance of damsels lately as this arrived at near enough the same time as albums by Subrosa, Joyless and Murkrat and if anyone out there thinks that bands such as this one and Blood Ceremony are a passing fad they can forget it, doom is not just the domain of the male magician, there be plenty of witches out there to cast their spell over you too.
What better way to dedicate the album to the ‘ancients’ by starting with salutations to ‘The Great God Pan,’ the mischievous half goat bacchanalian fellow who frolicked with nymphs and among many things favoured the pastime of ‘rustic music’ as played on his pipe. We are slowly eased in before a real 60s’ sounding guitar jangle takes up the dance and the harmonious tones of psychedelia play with your brain instantly leaving you feeling heady. Alia O'Brien wistfully vocalises not at full power yet, that at the moment is left for the signature central guitar riff of Sean Kennedy and then the classic sound of Hammond organ seeping over the song. There is something missing though and just in case you had forgotten, the band having played with us over one long song, start the next ‘Coven Tree’ with that other ingredient, the flute. You were probably wondering where it was by now and like me breathed a sigh of relief when it trills in. Alia is more forceful now as well and it feels as if the opener was a cunning jam designed to trick the listener a little. Now we are very much in the comfort zone of arcane sounding female fronted rock, the sort where every journalist can’t help but name drop certain bands from past eras (there’s a clue in the song title there). Gorgeous and carefree, there is a real sunny hippy vibe to ‘The Hermit’ with the flute etched melody making you want to sit back in the sun, drop acid and weave flowers in your hair. It might not be metal in essence but this instrumental is totally infectious and impossible to dislike.
There is a lot more gravity behind the austere organ work on ‘My Demon Brother’ and with a sample paving the way we are off on a witchy jaunt sounding like it has escaped from a Mario Bava movie. I admit that the name ‘Oliver Haddo’ was not one I recognised although it sounded sinister. The track is named after a pseudonym of the great beast himself Aleister Crowley. The song tells a tale and has some nice heavyset drumming about it courtesy of Andrew Haust as well as free-flowing retro keyboard harmonies which even cross into Goblin territory at one point. After a brief splash of flute sounding like an old children’s TV programme ‘The Witches Dance’ simply serves as a teasing bridge before last track ‘Daughter Of The Sun’ beams down delivering more flagrant flute, beseeching and airy vocals, organ and a solid chorus that latches right in your noggin.
The first album was going to always be a difficult one to follow up, it was one that I instantly fell for and so I approached this one with caution hoping it was not going to fall flat. It’s one of those things that people say about bands progressing and improving on their song writing but Blood Ceremony really have pulled out the stops here, I am sure Sanford Parker’s production has not done them any harm either. I am really looking forward to catching Blood Ceremony live with Ghost later this year having missed them 1st time round too, that is certainly going to be an interesting double bill!
http://www.myspace.com/bloodceremony
