I knew there was a reason I couldn't wait for their debut... it's great! The artwork for this album is interesting too.
Aswad Vogelenzang
05-18-2010 01:27 PM
Generally I think folk singer/songwriters should be subject to a great scourging. Well, the pseudo following-in-Nick-Drake's-footsteps folk lite that seems to be everywhere these days like some kind of biblical pestilence.
That said I picked up The Tallest Man On Earth's recent 'Wild Hunt' album and I'm really "digging" it. Since I had no experience of this particular artist it was a nice little find. His voice may divide opinion though as it is hardly pretty but if you can get past that the quality of songwriting is very good.
I am hopelessly addicted to this album. Julie Christmas' voice is amazing. I'd normally try to describe albums I dig myself but I don't think I can put it in better words than this:
Quote:
The album takes off with the epic The lamb and the Labrador, setting the tone for a very dark and grim album. Productionwise the music has a lot in common with the typical Neurosis sound. The riffing and dynamics are complex and sometimes painfully slow. Christmas’s signature vocals do set Battle Of Mice apart from other bands in this genre and I think her vocal range on this record is more diverse than the screeching and sreaming she does with Made Out Of Babies: from spoken word passages to hysterical screams and intense whispering, Julie’s vocal abilities are profound. Her lyrical skills work perfectly with the atmospheric sound of the band and reflect a very honest, sometimes frightening personal insight.
A day of nights is the result of a musical and epic journey that reflects the dysfunctioning of a relationship doomed from the beginning. In the end Battle Of Mice retain the epic grandeur of Red Sparowes while throwing in a primal range of emotions like angst, paranoia and blind rage, a feature akin to bands like Neurosis and I kind of think that’s interesting to say the least. An impressive debut album from a band that is recommended.
