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 | Caul:Reliquary (Eibon Records - 1997) A reliquary is a holding place for sacred artifacts and relics, (As a self-styled Mr. Vocabulary, I am humbled by having to look up the word... but appreciate the expansion of the old data bank!) and the title is certainly apt. Upon opening Brett Smith's Reliquary, several different types of composition are discovered, each just as wonderous as the other... mysterious pieces of darkness and divinity. |
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Religious overtones are explicit in the track titles, but you won't be hearing these on the 700 Club Gospel Jubilee!
Some of the 13 tracks take a more "musical" path, though the instrumentation is sparse and ancient in sound and style. The opening piece for instance, Christ Altogether Lovely, uses a slow piano scale, bells and woodwinds to sonorous effect over a trickling sound that could be fire or water. Paliggenesia employs strummed zither-like strings and occasional deep resonating gong sounds at a dirge pace. Et in Arcadia Ego intermingles a string section with strangely wailing whisps. The short but powerful Mystery of the Seven Stars features Viking drumbeats and pumping organ chords over chilling winds from the void, while Sangre bends toward the Middle East in a Dead Can Dance-styled track, with sinuous flute and string strands weaving through ethnic percussion and accompaniment. A later piece, Wholeness in the Cathedral of Gold seems to be wholly composed on an antiquated-sounding pipe organ. Some tracks blend more traditional sounds with the avant-garde; Lights in the Firmament of Heaven begins with a low, churning drone and haunted-music-box chimes, eventually phasing into a ringing choir arrangement. The Spirit and the Bride rides along on a deep electric hum, adding a slowly clattering percussion, then organ notes, while in the background, rumbles and shimmers appear and disappear. Other pieces are more firmly rooted in the abstract; The Soul Rising Out of the Vanity of Time features dense layers of sonic haze, surging blasts and shears which rise and fall in intensity. A Golden and Blessed Casket of Nature's Marvels is a beautifully murky blend of deep droning tones, a wafting horn line, and random clattering that may or may not be a distantly passing train. Though the tracks may differ in approach, the contents of Caul's box definitely belong together; one truly gets the feel of rummaging through a forgotten treasure box of eerily awe-inspiring artifacts. When you're done browsing the AmbiEntrance, you'll want to venture on over to the Caul website for more news and info, including 2 upcoming releases! (Some interesting Caul sidenotes for the graphic design-oriented: Brett Smith has not only designed Reliquary's lovely heaven/hell packaging, but also put together the gothic look for Ignis Fatuus's The Futility Goddess.) |
| If varying shades of somber gloom don't light up your world, then this might not be the poison of choice for you.
But I say... Two Thumbs Up 'cause I thrive in this musical netherland. I look forward to unearthing more sounds from Caul. |  |
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