|
MY SILENT WAKE - a garland of tears (2008)
Doom-Death
... is way to short a description, since MY SILENT WAKE can't be forced into such small boxes. The band from England cuts its own path far from well worn alleys. Therefore I am rendered as speechless as I was in the dark days of fall 2007, when I tried to review "The Anatomy of Melancholy". This year I'm confronted with exactly the same problem. How can I turn my bewilderment in words. But I have absolutly no problem to put "a garland of tears" directly at No. 1 of our charts! The world won't care...I don't care for the world.
For all of you who can't life without definitions: The sophisticated musicians move around the Doom-, Death- and Folk-Metal area (in a very broad sense). But beware, they also explore the borders to precious Gothic- and dreadful Black-Metal regimes. In between these worlds this exceptional band opens a whole set of new universes by interweaving contradictory elements without even batting an eye. This is already underlined by the first song "Tunnels". Its dark wave approach leaves the listener positively perplexed. Then the song evolves within the discrepancy of clean vocals and death growls and highlights so the numerous as well as entirely different facets of MY SILENT WAKE already at the beginning of the album. Not a fraction of a second is boring or even excrescent. Weighty Doom passages hide in mountains of Folk-Metal, just to loose and abstract themselves in veils of psychedelic sounds, before the music regains their substance and crashes back from hyperspace into reality. By then I begin to wonder if this is still the first song, or the fifth. Furthermore aggravating is the fact, that - no matter how often I heard the song already - in the second third I find myself longing to run to the next window, rip out the frame and scream to the world: "Is this real ... is this just a dream?"
And... it goes on like this. In "Pendulum" remembrances of medieval music are awoken, while "By My Own Hand" levels everything with pure Doom. And then "Cruel Grey Skies" explodes with all imaginable emotions and "Fall Of The Flightless" opens a bottomless abyss, completing the utter confusion of emotions. "So many tears ... "
Most astonishing is the profound lack of a review in German on the internet. There is none to be found yet, although this profound masterpiece has been released some weeks ago. What? Hello? This mystery even deepens, thinking of all the musical codswallop that is released daily. But since even reviews in English are scarce, I'm asking myself if all my colleagues are deeply depressed, slightly ignorant, or just dropped dead listening to this magnificent opus of one of the best bands from this world. The latter I surely don't hope, but I wouldn't wonder.
MY SILENT WAKE has exceeded itself with "a garland of tears". They manage to define their broad concern once again affectionately and vehemently. Therefore they are one of the few bands - like VIRGIN BLACK from Australia -, which have build up an insurmountable bastion of sound. Blessed are those who find the door into this bastion - for they behold a dark ocean, a universe of tears in which they are to find a handful of hope. He who surrenders to this task will prevail.
Conclusion: Notorious melancholics. Without precedent. The real great show!
|
|
CD-Tracklist:
1. Tunnels
2. Cruel Grey Skies
3. Pendulum
4. By My Own Hand
5. Fall Of The Flightless
6. Fallen Leaves
7. Wilderness Of Thorns
LP-Tracklist:
A
1. Tunnels
2. By My Own Hand
3. Pendulum
B
4. Fall of the Flightless
5. Fallen Leaves
6. Wilderness of Thorns
7" Bonus-Single:
A
Cruel Grey Skies
B
Shadow of Sorrow "live"
|
Line-up:
Ian Arkley: Lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, classical and acoustic guitars,
ebow, didgeridoo, thunder shaker and analogue synth in "Tunnels"
Andi Lee: Rhythm and lead guitars, vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin
Jasen Whyte: Drums and cymbals (on "By My Own Hand" and "Wilderness Of Thorns"), Lead vocals
Kate Hamilton: Bass, cello, vocals, keyboards, recorder, clarinet, zither, "ting"
Steve Alan: Drums, cymbals and percussion (on "Tunnels", "Cruel Grey Skies", "Pendulum"
"Fall Of The Flightless" and "Fallen Leaves"), Tambour, Tambourine, "ting"
www.mysilentwake.co.uk
www.myspace.com/mysilentwake
|
