Sometimes albums come along which are beyond comparison. To say that “Red Lines Entwined” is interesting means just that and is not a euphemism for “all over the place”. This said, it has a fair mix of styles. The curiously named Depth Beyond One’s are from Finland and pedal a strange brand of psychologically disturbed Progressive music, mixing all sorts of rhythms and atmospheres within their songs.
The first thing to note is the lyrics, which seem to specialise in people with problems. “Wraith” is about a 29 year old called Max whose mother killed herself and father died 20 years ago, so now he hates people and is bitter and twisted to the point of being a murderer. The song itself has a groovy, old-fashioned melodic rhythm. It is followed by “Hatred Rising”, which is strong on emotional melody and features entrancing acoustic moments, but with a decidedly dark and sinister edge. By contrast “Fig Leaves” has a mellow and comforting beginning. Its rhythm is South American in its style. There’s both an avant-garde and folk element about this nice track. If that sounds weird, it is. So it follows that the next track, “Mortuus Inventus”, an orchestral classical piece. The 9 ½ minute title track is a discordant, progressive adventure. Its jerky rhythm is both unsettling and deranged, and matches the lyrical theme which is about someone ill at ease with themselves. It ends with an inexorable march and precedes another strange, but rich track “Last Hope”. The pitter-patter of the drums herald a low-key experience, but the flat and plaintive vocals rise to an emotionally-charged crescendo. The overwhelming sense is that of sadness, accentuated at the end by some nice acoustic work. Although the album could never be described as lightweight, “Black Years” features an untypical heavy and punchy guitar riff, but then nothing is typical about this amazing work. The instrumental “Poverty” then follows. Its calm and steady rhythm with its African drum beat and accordion accompaniment make it eerie and beautiful. If what has gone before is rich in variety, we get everything on another 9 ½ minute schizophrenic track “Under the Shadow of the Tree”. The first four minutes contain a number of soft and understated acoustic segments which benefit from twists and turns. Then it steps up into chaotic darkness. The singer’s voice is harsh but the track explodes into a series of mind-blowing irregular and discordant passages with a greater affinity to insanity than any coherent form as we know it. It’s very powerful, and in the spirit of this ambivalent work, is the prelude to the last track “The Breathing Space”, in which the delicate strains of the piano complement the reflective vocals. In a final twist, the album ends with the sound of breathless sobbing.
I would recommend that anyone listening to this album should have their psychiatrist’s phone number handy. The lyrics are about people looking forward and backwards in their twisted lives – these are the “Red Lines Entwined” of the title – and the entrancing and disturbing music deliberately reflects this psychotic state of mind. This psychologically-driven Progressive work has great impact. It’s dark, strange and definitely interesting.
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