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Hey Kidz,
All right, so the newest news of the week is our new mini-comic "xo #1" is just about done. Working on the final layout right now. The artwork is by Melissa Spence Gardner & the story is by Brian John Mitchell. The series is the story of an ex-hitman trying not to kill people. If you want to get into what it's actually "about", I'd say it's about feeling powerless & alone in the world.
The webzine Setting Sun has recently done an interview with Tara Vanflower ( http://www.geocities.com/aen1mpo/tara.htm ) & Remora ( http://www.geocities.com/aen1mpo/remora.htm ).
Some reviews of Goddakk & the new Lycia re-issue have been coming in, check them out below.
hrt
Brian John Mitchell
Silber Records
Brian John Mitchell
Silber Records
GODDAKK: MONUMENT TO A RUINED AGE
The solo project of core Plumerai member Martin Newman, Goddakk is based more in experimentation and ambience than the output of his other projects. In some ways expanding upon and altering Newman's original Goddakk Dos Dalen EP (read my review here), Monument to a Ruined Age, the project's full-length debut on Silber Records is a 9-song affair that's ambient yet highly rhythmic. Blending often unintelligible, whispery, tremolo-processed vocals with melodic loops, noise elements, and generous use of a Fender Bass VI that adds a more organic air to the affair, it's an album that's sonically interesting and compelling.
While not straying far from the formula of layered instrumental loops building sonic textures topped by more fluid melodies and vocals, it's the sonic differences in, and interplay of, these elements that separate them. The excellent "Unfortunates", for example, blends a more melodic bass riff and great organ melodies, complete with a chorus, for something far more musical, while the instrumental "Your Guilty Prize" builds melodic layers and transforms into a more noise-based piece throughout its 6 minute duration. The eerie "Human Beings" also stands out, unsettling atmospherics and haunting piano melodies creating a moody spatial void, as does the more pop-structured, ethereal "Crucify You".
While sometimes a bit formulaic, Goddakk's Monument to a Ruined Age is, overall, an interestingly textured and emotive foray into experimental ambience with a few dips into ethereal pop territory. Considerably different from Newman's work with Plumerai, it may not appeal to everyone, but will likely prove an interesting listen for experimental/ambient/ethereal fans.
~ Joshua Heinrich, Grave Concerns
The solo project of core Plumerai member Martin Newman, Goddakk is based more in experimentation and ambience than the output of his other projects. In some ways expanding upon and altering Newman's original Goddakk Dos Dalen EP (read my review here), Monument to a Ruined Age, the project's full-length debut on Silber Records is a 9-song affair that's ambient yet highly rhythmic. Blending often unintelligible, whispery, tremolo-processed vocals with melodic loops, noise elements, and generous use of a Fender Bass VI that adds a more organic air to the affair, it's an album that's sonically interesting and compelling.
While not straying far from the formula of layered instrumental loops building sonic textures topped by more fluid melodies and vocals, it's the sonic differences in, and interplay of, these elements that separate them. The excellent "Unfortunates", for example, blends a more melodic bass riff and great organ melodies, complete with a chorus, for something far more musical, while the instrumental "Your Guilty Prize" builds melodic layers and transforms into a more noise-based piece throughout its 6 minute duration. The eerie "Human Beings" also stands out, unsettling atmospherics and haunting piano melodies creating a moody spatial void, as does the more pop-structured, ethereal "Crucify You".
While sometimes a bit formulaic, Goddakk's Monument to a Ruined Age is, overall, an interestingly textured and emotive foray into experimental ambience with a few dips into ethereal pop territory. Considerably different from Newman's work with Plumerai, it may not appeal to everyone, but will likely prove an interesting listen for experimental/ambient/ethereal fans.
~ Joshua Heinrich, Grave Concerns
Goddakk is the solo project of Martin Newman from the band 'Plumerai' and it came to life as he was trying to put together a band that would concentrate on songs with more of a dark and oppressive character, and this CD is the project's debut album.
This recording consists of 9 tracks of somewhat varied and sometimes aggressive soundscapes where you can hear many loops and sound effects, giving the music a drony but dynamic character. There are some vocals on some of the songs which have been processed through a tremolo pedal, giving the music an airy and spacelike tone.
The best way to describe this music would be like watching lava up close as it makes it's way down a rock formation or a grassy patch. You can see as the lava flows in a slow, repetitive pattern and if paid close attention, you can also see how some of the outer crust starts to dry out and form cracks. This is all of course happening in an atmosphere of intense heat, and that is the way this music feels like.
This is not your typical background music, and as a matter of fact it happens very much in the foreground. The music feels intense and unrelenting. It is harsh in nature and although it is noisy sometimes, it is not just noise because these are actually very structured songs. The music does not expand and contract as in minimalistic type of music where the harmonies go through an additive process, but rather just slowly moves along.
The only 'odd' track in this CD is track 8 where the mood actually changes drastically. Instead of an industrial feeling, this is indeed a very melodic but sorrow sounding track. An orchestral strings sounding tone carries along with what it seems to be a bass in the background and vocals whispering "crucify you". Imagine if you will as you are in the back seat of a car looking upwards to the blue sky in total silence as you are going to your own funeral!
I am sure this music is not for everyone because even when it does not possess any of the qualities of say death or black metal, it still has a very dark character and easily qualifies as very experimental music. It makes for a good interesting listen.
~ Lunar Hypnosis
This recording consists of 9 tracks of somewhat varied and sometimes aggressive soundscapes where you can hear many loops and sound effects, giving the music a drony but dynamic character. There are some vocals on some of the songs which have been processed through a tremolo pedal, giving the music an airy and spacelike tone.
The best way to describe this music would be like watching lava up close as it makes it's way down a rock formation or a grassy patch. You can see as the lava flows in a slow, repetitive pattern and if paid close attention, you can also see how some of the outer crust starts to dry out and form cracks. This is all of course happening in an atmosphere of intense heat, and that is the way this music feels like.
This is not your typical background music, and as a matter of fact it happens very much in the foreground. The music feels intense and unrelenting. It is harsh in nature and although it is noisy sometimes, it is not just noise because these are actually very structured songs. The music does not expand and contract as in minimalistic type of music where the harmonies go through an additive process, but rather just slowly moves along.
The only 'odd' track in this CD is track 8 where the mood actually changes drastically. Instead of an industrial feeling, this is indeed a very melodic but sorrow sounding track. An orchestral strings sounding tone carries along with what it seems to be a bass in the background and vocals whispering "crucify you". Imagine if you will as you are in the back seat of a car looking upwards to the blue sky in total silence as you are going to your own funeral!
I am sure this music is not for everyone because even when it does not possess any of the qualities of say death or black metal, it still has a very dark character and easily qualifies as very experimental music. It makes for a good interesting listen.
~ Lunar Hypnosis
Goddakk got its start as a result of bassist Martin Newman's struggles to get his main project, Plumerai (who, by the way, contributed an excellent track to Silber's 2004 Christmas comp), off the ground. It then dawned on Newman that he was still able to create music on his own, after seeing performances by Pamelia Kurstin and Brian John Mitchell (Remora). Of course, bass guitar-centric music is nothing new — Rothko, among others, were already doing it — but as a former master of the four-string myself, I find something especially beguiling about Newman's harsh, brittle soundscapes.
While the press materials draw up comparisons to the likes of Coil and The Legendary Pink Dots, I personally hear something more along the lines of Philip Jeck's rolling, rumbling washes of sound. The album begins with the aptly-titled "Opened", which consists of a low frequency rumbling hum — I suspect some serious guitar pickup abuse was involved here — as lighter, shimmering guitar filigrees bounce back and forth. Newman's voice, shredded and whipped by a bevy of effects pedals, gasps out from time to time, though his treated vocals are barely able to maintain their form under the soundscape's onslaught.
"Opened", like all of the other tracks, are by no means the pinnacle of audiophile perfection. They're roughhewn, as if Newman decided that the only possible vessel for capturing his sounds was a battered old 4-track and worn-down magnetic tape. However, the noisy, abrasive quality of the recording actually makes these songs stronger than they might have been otherwise. It imbues them with an otherworldly quality that is both strangely beguiling (given the songs' dark, harsh nature) and rather creepy.
However, it's not all just sonic assaults and walls of rumbling, head-rattling guitar noise. Songs such as "Unfortunates" and "Crucify You" are surprisingly melodic, given the otherwise clashing sounds that Newman generates. This is especially true of the former. The sounds as if you're locked inside a church bell tower at midnight, the giant tolling sounds crashing all around you and threatening to cave your head in. However, a wandering organ has something of a structuring effect, while Newman's tremoloed vocals whisper in from the edges.
"Crucify You" is easily the most song-like song on the disc, as well as the most poignant, as Newman gasps and intones the titular words with increasing desperation, leaving the listener to wonder just who, exactly, is "you". Newman's bass guitar takes on a cello-like facade, while additional string-like arrangements combine with the recording's haziness, resulting in a song that would sound quite at home on This Mortal Coil's It'll End In Tears.
Interestingly, Newman had intended for Plumerai to take on dark, oppressive pop songs a la The Cure's Pornography. I find that somewhat ironic because, while Goddakk's music is much more abstract than anything The Cure ever did outside of "Carnage Visors", there are certain parallels between Monument To A Ruined Age and the Cure's darkest hour.
Pornography found the band delving increasingly into heavily rhythmic songs that were much more atmospheric and stream-of-consciousness than anything they'd done up to that point (or since then). I don't find it too hard to imagine that, had Robert Smith gone even farther into that darkly rhythmic, crushing sound than he did, the result might not too dissimilar from songs such as "Unfortunates" or "Crucify You".
~ Jason Morehead, Opus
While the press materials draw up comparisons to the likes of Coil and The Legendary Pink Dots, I personally hear something more along the lines of Philip Jeck's rolling, rumbling washes of sound. The album begins with the aptly-titled "Opened", which consists of a low frequency rumbling hum — I suspect some serious guitar pickup abuse was involved here — as lighter, shimmering guitar filigrees bounce back and forth. Newman's voice, shredded and whipped by a bevy of effects pedals, gasps out from time to time, though his treated vocals are barely able to maintain their form under the soundscape's onslaught.
"Opened", like all of the other tracks, are by no means the pinnacle of audiophile perfection. They're roughhewn, as if Newman decided that the only possible vessel for capturing his sounds was a battered old 4-track and worn-down magnetic tape. However, the noisy, abrasive quality of the recording actually makes these songs stronger than they might have been otherwise. It imbues them with an otherworldly quality that is both strangely beguiling (given the songs' dark, harsh nature) and rather creepy.
However, it's not all just sonic assaults and walls of rumbling, head-rattling guitar noise. Songs such as "Unfortunates" and "Crucify You" are surprisingly melodic, given the otherwise clashing sounds that Newman generates. This is especially true of the former. The sounds as if you're locked inside a church bell tower at midnight, the giant tolling sounds crashing all around you and threatening to cave your head in. However, a wandering organ has something of a structuring effect, while Newman's tremoloed vocals whisper in from the edges.
"Crucify You" is easily the most song-like song on the disc, as well as the most poignant, as Newman gasps and intones the titular words with increasing desperation, leaving the listener to wonder just who, exactly, is "you". Newman's bass guitar takes on a cello-like facade, while additional string-like arrangements combine with the recording's haziness, resulting in a song that would sound quite at home on This Mortal Coil's It'll End In Tears.
Interestingly, Newman had intended for Plumerai to take on dark, oppressive pop songs a la The Cure's Pornography. I find that somewhat ironic because, while Goddakk's music is much more abstract than anything The Cure ever did outside of "Carnage Visors", there are certain parallels between Monument To A Ruined Age and the Cure's darkest hour.
Pornography found the band delving increasingly into heavily rhythmic songs that were much more atmospheric and stream-of-consciousness than anything they'd done up to that point (or since then). I don't find it too hard to imagine that, had Robert Smith gone even farther into that darkly rhythmic, crushing sound than he did, the result might not too dissimilar from songs such as "Unfortunates" or "Crucify You".
~ Jason Morehead, Opus
Well-assembled drones, loops, and patterns from Plumerai's Martin Newman working solo. Different from some of the other loop-based artists/projects I've heard, in that Newman adds quite a bit of active material to the loop backgrounds, which keeps the pieces from drifting off into repetitive monotony. The moods here range from pretty to bleak to pretty bleak. Most of the compositions are pure droners, while a couple of them actually have a simple chord change or two. All of them present a nice balance between musical elements and textural sounds. I particularly like the crunchy, scattered-sounding bass guitar on #5, and the sneaky processed vocals that show up from time to time throughout the CD.
~ Max Level, KFJC
~ Max Level, KFJC
The same Cure album Pornography is mentioned in the press blurb of Goddakk's debut album 'Monument To A Ruined Age'. Martin Newman was thinking of forming a band that could similar music, but decided to keep it a solo project and be in total control himself. I assume that somewhere along the lines he abandoned the idea of doing songs along the lines of 'Pornography', since 'Monument To A Ruined Age' sounds quite unlike that. Goddak plays around with loops of sounds, played using a six string bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, and vocals, to create songs that are somewhere half way through ambient soundscaping and real songs. The same press blurb mentions influences of Colin Newman (not related, but of Wire fame), The Legendary Pink Dots, and Coil, but I must admit I can only see the influence of the latter. Despite the fact that there are voices used, it's hard to detect them. That makes the idea of popsongs a bit more difficult. Quite 'present' ambient music or quite 'lush' pop-music, and whereas not always the newest or hottest thing in town, it's surely executed with great care and imagination.
~ Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly
~ Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly
LYCIA: THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST
Apparently throwing any semblance of chronological order to the wind, the second of Silber's Lycia reissues jumps from the later Estrella back to the band's 1995 release, The Burning Circle and Then Dust. Of all the reissues, The Burning Circle and then Dust is likely to be the most controversial. It's not due to the remastering quality or the altered artwork. Rather, it's due to the fact that a whopping 8 tracks have been removed from the original double CD to make this a single disc. Let's face it, despite the fact that it was a band decision that returned the album to its original vision, cutting tracks from a reissue is typically a bad idea, more so when said tracks comprise nearly a third of the original release. For the record, the eight missing tracks are "The Better Things to Come", "In the Fire and Flames", "August (Part 1)", "August (Part 2)", "The Facade Fades", These Memories Pass", "The Burning Circle", and "The New Day".
While what's missing here certainly deserves plenty of attention, so does what's included. The Burning Circle and Then Dust finds the band at something of a transitory stage, shedding the darkness of past albums but not yet reaching the full moody ethereality that would define their next. Rather, the disc, a fan favorite, is a somewhat poppier affair that serves as something of a precursor to Estrella. It also, notably, marks the band's first release featuring Tara Vanflower.
Drifting between multi-part instrumentals, songs featuring Mike Vanportfleet's trademark guttural whispers, and a couple songs featuring the more ethereal Tara Vanflower, The Burning Circle and then Dust is a diverse yet sonically consistent affair. Noteworthy songs include the powerful opener "A Presence in the Woods", the lovely, melodic "Sleepless", and the spacious Vanflower-fronted "Nimble" and "Surrender". However, it's the upbeat, bass-driven, single-worthy ethereal pop of "Pray", the similar but slightly simpler "Nine Hours Later", and the rhythmically interesting guitar-arpeggio-centric "Anywhere But Home" that truly steal the show.
While this album is worth picking up, particularly for its very nicely remastered sonic clarity and glimpse into the band's original artistic vision for the album, long-time fans will certainly want to hold onto their original double disc Projekt issues. The omission of the missing tracks is artistically understandable, but they really should have at least been included as a bonus EP of sorts. Still, despite its flaws, it's a strong presentation of the landmark album that shed Lycia's past and foreshadowed their future.
~ Joshua Heinrich, Grave Concerns
Returning home from a long winter walk along the country side, putting the heather a little higher and have a hot choco with some rum or whisky. That is the same sensation you get while listening to Lycia, A warm comfortable languor comes over you like a blanket. Wide guitars with a lot of delay and reverb will fill your room like a thick and soft carpet. Lycia don’t need much introduction while they have earned their fame already long ago. This is a re-release then which saw the light of day for ten years ago. “The Burning Circle And Then Dust” was originally released as a double disc on Sam Rosenthal’s Project label but is now released as a single disc on Silber records. Lycia is top of the bill Darkwave and this CD contains just good songs. There for I can recommend this to everyone who likes Darkwave, nice and slow warm sounding ethereal rock. The spectacle “Ionia” is not to be surpassed while that record makes you really drown in a sea of delay, and that is what makes “Ionia” also attractive to people who like post rock. On “The Burning Circle…” it is all more “regular” rock and that makes it also suitable for a less gothic orientated audience. Well, it is no wonder this fabulous CD is being re-released so new people can take notice of this classic work.
~ Remco, Gothtronic
~ Remco, Gothtronic
I was talking with an elder at my church a few weeks ago about our shared affinity for the sort of gloomy post-punk that only the 1980s seemed capable of producing. I'm referring to bands such as The Cure (whose output during that decade is, in my opinion, almost entirely unrivalled), New Order, and Joy Division, but also Josef K, The Durutti Column, and many others. It seems like much of that music died off by the time the 1990s rolled around, with grunge and its ilk coming along to assuage the angst of teens everywhere.
However, the truth is that the sort of gloomy, atmospheric post-punk that we all knew and loved never really died. It simply went underground. There, bands such as Lycia (pronounced "lie-see-uh") took the genre — if it could even be considered a genre — even further.
If you want to pick nits, I find it difficult to really label the songs on The Burning Circle And Then Dust "goth" (which Lycia and so many of their contemporaries are often labelled), due mainly to the amazing amounts of atmosphere that Mike VanPortfleet, David Galas, and Tara Vanflower pack into these songs. The result is a sometimes claustrophobic and overwhelming album that, like much of Lycia's music, embodies nearly every stereotype that comes to mind when thinking of "goth/darkwave/etc.", and then just easily transcends them again and again.
Originally a two-disc release on Projekt Records, VanPortfleet chose to pare this re-release down to a mere 18(!) songs, as had been the original plan. This is probably a good thing (it could be argued that the disc could stand even a bit more trimming, as there are several short tracks that seem like nothing more than filler). Although Lycia's music is clearly not a one-trick pony, a fact that becomes even more apparent upon a closer listen, the prevailing tone of the album, as well the various synth and guitar effects that VanPortfleet et al. use, does lead to a certain monotony.
Many of the songs follow a similar progression, usually beginning with murky synths and spiralling, ice-laced guitars immediately looming over the listener in a rather bombastic fashion, while cold, clunky drum machines pound away in the song's center. Then, VanPortfleet's snarling whispers come drifting around from the edges, like a cold winter wind sweeping across isolated spaces.
Like many of Lycia's peers in the darkwave circles, there is certainly some pretense to their music. But unlike so many similar artists, which often stike up a theatrical pose that at best seems fake and at worst is just plain silly, the intensity that VanPortfleet et al. brings to these songs does lend them a certain amount of conviction. There certainly isn't a lot of subtlety to the group's music, due to the singular mindset that they bring to so many of the songs on the disc. However, that singular mindset and sense of focus actually allows the songs to achieve the epic sense of gloominess and despair towards which VanPortfleet and his cohorts constantly aspire.
Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. Well, it is, but while VanPortfleet is clearly intent on pursuing a very particular sound as far as he can, there is some variety that can surprise the listener. Compared to the rest of the disc, it's surprising just how catchy, and even dancey, a song like "Pray" is. That is, if you consider songs like The Cure's "Pictures Of You" and "Fascination Street" to be catchy. Like The Cure, Lycia obviously love their melodic, surging basslines, and David Galas makes use of them time and again, providing a sense of momentum and melody that pushes the songs forward where they would otherwise be lost amidst all of the swirling guitars and mopey synths.
While Lycia is most obviously indebted to the likes of The Cure and Joy Division — you can practically hear spectres of Ian Curtis' voice during the opening seconds of "The Dust Settles (Part 3)" — there's also a clear, if somewhat predictable, 4AD influence. The shimmering guitars cast a Heaven Or Las Vegas-like glow over "Where As All The Time Gone?". Of course, once VanPortfleet's whisper comes drifting in, that glow becomes something altogether darker and more insidious, far from the exultatory tones of the Cocteau Twins album.
The disc's finest moments come towards the end, when VanPortfleet's voice is join by Tara VanFlower's. Foreshadowing her more ambient work on My Little Fire-Filled Heart and This Womb Like Liquid Honey, "Nimble" eschews the wiry, sinister guitars that lace through so much of the album for layers of VanFlower's angelic voice and silvery, starlit synths. While the song is as melancholy as anything else on the album, there is a certain yearning and fragility to the song that allows some measure of light into the band's shadowy world.
The disc's closer, "Surrender", continues the sorrowful theme begun in the previous track "Resigned". Here, VanFlower's clear voice echoes and parallels VanPortfleet's desperate whisper on "Resigned", as if she's the angel promising salvation to his tortured soul. Whereas "Resigned" lives up to its title, with wilting synths and VanPortfleet's vocals, threatening to pull the listener down into some bleak, lonely place, "Surrender" seems to hint towards a way out and up. The song unfolds at an almost orchestral pace, with VanFlower's inscrutable voice bathed in the light of the choir-like synths all around her. It's just as foreboding as the rest of the album, but like "Nimble", there is ultimately a yearning that belies the darkness of the track, and allows the album to end on at least some note of consolation.
I suppose all of that may sound somewhat silly, as if I've bought into the theatrics of Lycia's music. But trust me, spend enough time in Lycia's world, and you may begin to see things the way they do. Sorrow, angst, and depression aren't just things to fuel bad high school poetry. In Lycia's arcane world, they become real and tangible aspects of reality, almost palpable in their presence. If you're in the right mindset, encountering their singular vision can be a rather overwhelming and consuming experience. If you're not, well... there's always something else that can speak to your angst.
Personally, I'll take Lycia's dated, bombastic, pretentious, overwrought music — whispers and all — any day of the week.
~ Jason Morehead, Opus
However, the truth is that the sort of gloomy, atmospheric post-punk that we all knew and loved never really died. It simply went underground. There, bands such as Lycia (pronounced "lie-see-uh") took the genre — if it could even be considered a genre — even further.
If you want to pick nits, I find it difficult to really label the songs on The Burning Circle And Then Dust "goth" (which Lycia and so many of their contemporaries are often labelled), due mainly to the amazing amounts of atmosphere that Mike VanPortfleet, David Galas, and Tara Vanflower pack into these songs. The result is a sometimes claustrophobic and overwhelming album that, like much of Lycia's music, embodies nearly every stereotype that comes to mind when thinking of "goth/darkwave/etc.", and then just easily transcends them again and again.
Originally a two-disc release on Projekt Records, VanPortfleet chose to pare this re-release down to a mere 18(!) songs, as had been the original plan. This is probably a good thing (it could be argued that the disc could stand even a bit more trimming, as there are several short tracks that seem like nothing more than filler). Although Lycia's music is clearly not a one-trick pony, a fact that becomes even more apparent upon a closer listen, the prevailing tone of the album, as well the various synth and guitar effects that VanPortfleet et al. use, does lead to a certain monotony.
Many of the songs follow a similar progression, usually beginning with murky synths and spiralling, ice-laced guitars immediately looming over the listener in a rather bombastic fashion, while cold, clunky drum machines pound away in the song's center. Then, VanPortfleet's snarling whispers come drifting around from the edges, like a cold winter wind sweeping across isolated spaces.
Like many of Lycia's peers in the darkwave circles, there is certainly some pretense to their music. But unlike so many similar artists, which often stike up a theatrical pose that at best seems fake and at worst is just plain silly, the intensity that VanPortfleet et al. brings to these songs does lend them a certain amount of conviction. There certainly isn't a lot of subtlety to the group's music, due to the singular mindset that they bring to so many of the songs on the disc. However, that singular mindset and sense of focus actually allows the songs to achieve the epic sense of gloominess and despair towards which VanPortfleet and his cohorts constantly aspire.
Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. Well, it is, but while VanPortfleet is clearly intent on pursuing a very particular sound as far as he can, there is some variety that can surprise the listener. Compared to the rest of the disc, it's surprising just how catchy, and even dancey, a song like "Pray" is. That is, if you consider songs like The Cure's "Pictures Of You" and "Fascination Street" to be catchy. Like The Cure, Lycia obviously love their melodic, surging basslines, and David Galas makes use of them time and again, providing a sense of momentum and melody that pushes the songs forward where they would otherwise be lost amidst all of the swirling guitars and mopey synths.
While Lycia is most obviously indebted to the likes of The Cure and Joy Division — you can practically hear spectres of Ian Curtis' voice during the opening seconds of "The Dust Settles (Part 3)" — there's also a clear, if somewhat predictable, 4AD influence. The shimmering guitars cast a Heaven Or Las Vegas-like glow over "Where As All The Time Gone?". Of course, once VanPortfleet's whisper comes drifting in, that glow becomes something altogether darker and more insidious, far from the exultatory tones of the Cocteau Twins album.
The disc's finest moments come towards the end, when VanPortfleet's voice is join by Tara VanFlower's. Foreshadowing her more ambient work on My Little Fire-Filled Heart and This Womb Like Liquid Honey, "Nimble" eschews the wiry, sinister guitars that lace through so much of the album for layers of VanFlower's angelic voice and silvery, starlit synths. While the song is as melancholy as anything else on the album, there is a certain yearning and fragility to the song that allows some measure of light into the band's shadowy world.
The disc's closer, "Surrender", continues the sorrowful theme begun in the previous track "Resigned". Here, VanFlower's clear voice echoes and parallels VanPortfleet's desperate whisper on "Resigned", as if she's the angel promising salvation to his tortured soul. Whereas "Resigned" lives up to its title, with wilting synths and VanPortfleet's vocals, threatening to pull the listener down into some bleak, lonely place, "Surrender" seems to hint towards a way out and up. The song unfolds at an almost orchestral pace, with VanFlower's inscrutable voice bathed in the light of the choir-like synths all around her. It's just as foreboding as the rest of the album, but like "Nimble", there is ultimately a yearning that belies the darkness of the track, and allows the album to end on at least some note of consolation.
I suppose all of that may sound somewhat silly, as if I've bought into the theatrics of Lycia's music. But trust me, spend enough time in Lycia's world, and you may begin to see things the way they do. Sorrow, angst, and depression aren't just things to fuel bad high school poetry. In Lycia's arcane world, they become real and tangible aspects of reality, almost palpable in their presence. If you're in the right mindset, encountering their singular vision can be a rather overwhelming and consuming experience. If you're not, well... there's always something else that can speak to your angst.
Personally, I'll take Lycia's dated, bombastic, pretentious, overwrought music — whispers and all — any day of the week.
~ Jason Morehead, Opus
Original released eleven years ago as a two disc album on Projekt Records, Silber and Lycia’s Mike VanPortfleet have re-released and re-mastered the bands third and quite seminal record ‘The Burning Circle and then Dust.’
For me I’ve always enjoyed this recording and the bands fantastic follow-up album ‘Cold’ the best. However one of the things that always made The Burning Circle somewhat of a chore to get through was the length of the recording as the first disc was quite long and then there was a second disc with eight additional songs. This re-release omits those eight extra songs and leaves the listener with just the original first disc, which is as Mike has said, is the way he originally wanted the album to be anyway. This album marked the first partnership Mike made with David Galas and Tara VanFlower, as well it was with this album that the tracks started sounding actually more song oriented rather than just the dark atmospheric pieces that had been seen on the previous recordings.
This album features such highlights as ‘A Presence in the Woods,’ ‘The Return of Nothing,’ ‘Pray’ and many more stunning songs to boot. The Burning Circle like most other Lycia releases features the synths really standing out; always sounding very beautiful, soaring, and majestic, sometimes creepy and mysterious, and even a little somber at times. Plus the acoustic guitars and vocal deliveries are so well done, and often times the chorus’ become stuck in your head after listening.
As far as the re-mastering is concerned I can’t comment on it to much since I haven’t listened to the original version in quite some years. However after a friend pointed this out to me I did notice at times the cymbal percussion is a little too loud, and when listened through headphones it can be a tad annoying, but nothing major. So I can’t really justify whether it’s worth re-buying again or not but one thing is for sure and that is this is one of Lycia’s finest and certainly a crowned gem in the Darkwave genre.
~ Joe Mlodik, Lunar Hypnosis
For me I’ve always enjoyed this recording and the bands fantastic follow-up album ‘Cold’ the best. However one of the things that always made The Burning Circle somewhat of a chore to get through was the length of the recording as the first disc was quite long and then there was a second disc with eight additional songs. This re-release omits those eight extra songs and leaves the listener with just the original first disc, which is as Mike has said, is the way he originally wanted the album to be anyway. This album marked the first partnership Mike made with David Galas and Tara VanFlower, as well it was with this album that the tracks started sounding actually more song oriented rather than just the dark atmospheric pieces that had been seen on the previous recordings.
This album features such highlights as ‘A Presence in the Woods,’ ‘The Return of Nothing,’ ‘Pray’ and many more stunning songs to boot. The Burning Circle like most other Lycia releases features the synths really standing out; always sounding very beautiful, soaring, and majestic, sometimes creepy and mysterious, and even a little somber at times. Plus the acoustic guitars and vocal deliveries are so well done, and often times the chorus’ become stuck in your head after listening.
As far as the re-mastering is concerned I can’t comment on it to much since I haven’t listened to the original version in quite some years. However after a friend pointed this out to me I did notice at times the cymbal percussion is a little too loud, and when listened through headphones it can be a tad annoying, but nothing major. So I can’t really justify whether it’s worth re-buying again or not but one thing is for sure and that is this is one of Lycia’s finest and certainly a crowned gem in the Darkwave genre.
~ Joe Mlodik, Lunar Hypnosis
For me the name Lycia rings bells of earlier days, when I spend my days inside a record store, which used to carry Lycia. I do recall they were on labels such as Projekt and Hyperium, and in general their darker than dark pop-music was not well spent on me. Apparently a lot of their older stuff is sold out, reason enough for Silber Records to re-issue five of their albums, and this 'The Burning Circle And Then Dust' is the second. It dates back from 1995 and Lycia was then a three piece group (well, perhaps they still are, as I'm clueless where they are now), of Mike VanPortfleet (guitars, vocals, synth and drum programs), David Galas (bass, synth, drumprograms, audioengineering), and Tara Vanflower on vocals. Much water has passed under the bridge, since my stubborn 'no' to this kind of music, and I even started playing many records by The Cure and Cocteau Twins since some time (which no doubt is an age thing), so perhaps I am looking differently to this kind of music now. Actually I do. I don't dislike it as much as I expected when I started playing this, and I can see the quality of the music. It's not bad indeed, but to be very honest I prefer 'Pornography' by The Cure over this Lycia, even when it has similar heavy rhythms, similar tons of reverb on the guitar and doomed vocals. It's not bad indeed, but with my small Cure and Cocteau Twins collection, I think I have enough.
~ Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly
~ Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly
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