mick mercer -
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03:52 am
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ATARAXIA
LLYR
Prikosnovenie
“Llyr (Lyra) is the name of the instrument of the Bards and the Greek lyrical poets; a sacred musical instrument visually inspired by the grace and nobleness of the swans.”
This is magical, and once again finds the band creating an unexpected mood, roving knee-high through a new ethereal field where percussion stirs around them, where synth and guitar weave through the air and the vocals create a strange, sometimes sinister canopy above. Although only ten songs long it takes you on a weird journey, plucking you up, then depositing you, mystified but strangely refreshed. Delicate and muted compared to most of their previous works it nevertheless remains full and vibrant, the air humming, and doubtlessly slightly scared.
‘Siqillat’ comes out of the mist, distant bells and the percussive sense of insects giving way to insistent synth, downcast guitar and a bright orb of vocals. Although it is a work of intrinsic beauty it’s also downright eerie, but you appreciate both in its balanced impact. Now the album apparently revolves around the travels through time of a shaman named Siqillat, and the music reflects first a spell of equanimity, then a feminine spell, on into a male/female schism, creating a break from any link with nature, then through a ‘healing’ mantra we’re ushered back towards an optimistic state. That’s the theory, and a suitably artistic one for them, so how come they cover ‘Scarborough Fair’?
Well, it’s what they do with it. It’s instantly recognisable in suitably supine form, but the vocals are dreamy instead of a plain folky concoction, and then the drums start to create ripples, the music as important as the vocal interplay, guitar swelling, drums pushing forwards, synth shadows gluing them together. Gloomy keyboards find the initially moping ‘Quintaluna’ seeping out until male and female vocals begin to coalesce, at times light and really catchy but also richly dramatic and disturbing when it inches forwards and voices unite, similar in effect to the theme of The Omen.
‘Llyr’ is simply beautiful, guitar and strings trickling into supple percussion and lilting vocals, down into a quiet dip, then easing back into a lively, deep stroll to a gentle guitar close.
‘Elldamaar’ is weird, the first of two parts, a slender but invigorating thrum of a song, the vocals and wonderful drums poking through its gauzy fabric. ‘Evnyssien’ is equally enchanting, the guitar and softly curling synth casually hypnotic, the flute leading us out of dreamy stasis and into a deeper entrancement. This restful state continues with ‘Klepsydra’ which chimes graciously along with winsome vocals wisps cajoling your lulled ears, the ultimate Ataraxia sorbet. ‘Elldamaar’ is doomier, sterner vocals gliding over harsh drums until a flute or recorder introduces entices contemplative vocals, then suspenseful synth descends with a tangle of sonorous vocals and murky guitar before a space opens for genteel vocals that fracture, dark but coy, all very mysterious.
‘Gayatry Mantra’ perplexes further with a style that merges Indian with the monastic; music held back, vibrating slowly as the vocals take centre stage, female leading, male and female repeating phrases. The stillness is reassuring, but it’s oppressive too, the threat slowly passing as its natural gentlessness takes us out, calm again. Into ‘Borea1’, an exquisite song on which to finish, with the vocals pushing up like jubilant orchids through softly delineated musical foliage, the music doing a favourite Ataraxia thing of melting into the sound of the sea.
By the end of it you’ll be charmed, your ears aglow, having been transfixed and transported which is what they’re all about, but the fact they manage to do it different time and time again is what keeps you wanting more. This record is an absolute joy, and yet still quite strange, rooted in their world, yet somehow other-worldy. Grab your passport.
http://www.ataraxia.net
http://www.prikosnovenie.com
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Thank you.. I must have this! Now the search to find it in the States. I hope Projekt will carry it, as they have a number of older Ataraxia releases. |
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