If one whirls too much they are very likely to find themselves a bit on the giddy side and listening to this bands debut album I can see why they chose their name. I took one look at the players involved in this project and the disc ended up straight on my review pile sight unheard. Featuring in the ranks of this Swedish group we have AE of the sadly defunct Armagedda who can also be found on this review update strumming down an acoustic route with his other band Lönndom. The other reason this was of particular interest is due to the fact that on this album the services of P. Gustafsson of Bergraven have been utilised for session ‘harsh vocals,’ meaning on paper this was always going to be an interesting enigma.
A ghostly intro pits two pieces of music together, one a maudlin keyboard quietly in the background and the other a famous waltz whose name I should really be able to place if I were an expert on such things. This is a ghostly start to the following five tracks and sets you up with a feeling of unease. ‘The Watcher’ has guitar progressions that are enough to make you shudder at their gloom and clean vocals which it is impossible not to think of Ved Buens Ende as they further chill you to the spine. This was always going to be an avant-garde affair but the song quickly decides to plummet away and fly off in a fury which reminds of both Code and Bergraven; a marriage pretty much made in hell. It’s a solid track which veers between dynamic fist pumping charges and slower more moribund acoustic parts, drawing you in and making you wonder what can come next. The theatrical narration behind the oratory clean vocals simply adds to the profound air of mystery as The Watcher plays and taunts with us. The skewed guitar harmonics continue with jagged shards glistening around ‘Infinity of Ghost's.’ An air of decrepit tomb and aeons old intrigue pervades and it is akin to dipping into a Victoriana penny dreadful in musical form The cast wear masks and the ball and the dance is one partaken by the damned, echoes of which a whispered in future times as a cautionary tale to scare small children or perhaps even elders, it makes little difference. ‘Globe in Sway’ both bounces and broods with a solid bass section grooving away and a strong melodic fortitude which quickly latches on. Harsher vocals work well here as an opposing voice to the more harmonious ones, they are still clear to hear though just adding further layers of decrepitude to proceedings.
One complaint is for those who have already caressed the pale this is not the most unique album you will ever have heard. That aside it is still a fascinating trawl through gaslit chambers, opiate dreams and places where fog clogs the lungs and typhoid is rife. Settle down with a fine glass of absinthe and a book by Poe or Wilkie Collins, soak up the atmosphere and see if you dare turn out the light at the end.
http://www.myspace.com/whirling
