Once upon a time I was warned that describing music is an insurmountable task, which to some extent, I agree with. I can tell you that song X has a “killer riff” or a “beautiful vocal line” which gives you a vague idea what you can expect, although to describe a song with any great degree of accuracy would be pointless as great music speaks to the heart in ways that words cannot. Never has the original point been so valid as with Damned Spirits Dance. Not only is this because my vocabulary has one too many gaps to fully describe such a, well, schizophrenic album, but frankly this is just one that has to be heard to be believed.
Weird Constellations is just the kind of album that obstinately refuses to play by the rules and is bound by no conventions, spitting in the face of your existing ideals of what an album should sound like. The amount of “What the $%£&”’s and “Turn this shit off”’s I’ve had thrown at me over the past week or two tell me this isn’t necessarily the most accessible of albums and isn’t one if you’re after a quick Mc-headbanging fix but often those are the best ones and the ones that stay around the longest in my opinion. This will take you on an interstellar voyage through unknown territory, blowing your mind and blasting you into another dimension. I simply love ‘Devil’s On His Way’ with its madcap theatrical style; after a confounding intro the drums and guitars come bouncing in creating a real chaotic upheaval. There’s a maddened chuckle to the vocal delivery that fits the unhinged clatter like hand to glove; surely the devil would approve!
There’s a far harsher, more blackened furore to ‘TSS – Toxic Shock Syndrome’ that seems to mash together and Enslaved-esque swagger with the majestic flair of Emperor. There is a strong black metal backbone that remains fairly constant throughout this album, as while there are plenty of diversions it always manages to swing back to the icy blasting and ferocious guitars, such as on ‘Fake’ which has a black thrash kind of ferocity that brings to mind Melechesh.
What soon becomes quite apparent is the way this album is broken into two halves, with ‘Weird Constellations;’ track six bringing in the second of the two. This has a really dazzling sci-fi vibe to it which is coated in fuzz and introduces us to the cosmic dance sounds that are recurrent in what follows. Absolutely no two tracks here are the same and while this has a definite unhinged quality to it, this doesn’t seem disjointed; the tracks segue neatly into one another, and this perfectly leads the way for the stunning ‘Angel And The Dark River.’ The female vocals on this track sound simply magnificent and really send the spirit soaring through the stars, while the black metal rasps provide a strong contrast for these reflective moments.
Somehow the euphoric trance of ‘Raven’ seems to work amazingly well on this album; it brings the cosmic elements to a conclusion and almost seems that this is what all has been building up to. This seems to be an integral part of the story as we get to ‘Fake’ when the “stupid song I’ve been hearing all night” is brought in and out on numerous occasions. Some will argue that dance doesn’t belong with metal; that the two styles are mortal enemies…but this says different! ‘So Much To Say… So I’d Rather Tell No-One’ really shakes things up with this bringing a classic doom flavour to the table with some riffs straight from the book of Sabbath and powerful, majestic vocals that have me thinking of Messiah Marcolin. ‘Guess I’m Dying’ brings the album to a rather subdued close; accepting death and sadly the end of the CD. There’s definitely a story here judging by the way the lyrics are laid out, although they are rather vague in their meaning and too nonsensical to really analyse here given my limited time to write this review.
It must be said there is a lot to take in with this album; with so much going on it requires a fair few listens to really get the head around but on the positive side, this keeps things very interesting as new things leap out at you with each listen. This is metal at its maddest, most unpredictable, and it makes me want to join the damned spirits and dance!
http://www.myspace.com/damnedspiritsdance
http://www.damnedspirits.com
