Posts tagged Brendan Perry

(Review from progarchives.com, allmusic)

Dead Can Dance’s last studio album is yet another step into their new ethnic directions started with “Into the Labyrinth”. Gone are most forms of pre-classical music and the album is now fully into ethnic folk music, somewhere between Spanish folk and mid-Eastern/Arabian music, still underlined by Indian percussion, but not just tabla drums anymore. As first seen in the previous Labyrinth album, the music is much less acoustic and definitely more synthesized, but here this trend is even more obvious.

One can hear the duo wanting to stretch a bit more, however subtly. Perry and Gerrard’s personal and creative tensions didn’t stop them from creating another fine album, though there’s a strong sense the group had finally reached a logical end. Essentially, Spiritchaser is a summing up rather than a push forward; it features all the usual elements of a Dead Can Dance album instead of further explorations to see what else could be done.

Both Perry and Gerrard are in fine voice throughout, their strong singing still the centerpiece of their work, but there’s almost an air of predictability to their approaches at this point. Interestingly, overtly rock elements like Morricone-styled electric guitar appear at points amid the usual melange of various percussion instruments and arrangements. It works surprisingly well, indicating where the duo might have gone had they continued on. Spiritchaser ends on a strong note, the gentle, mysterious “Devorzhum”, a Gerrard-sung number that makes for a grand conclusion.

Line-up:
- Lisa Gerrard / vocal, assorted instruments
- Brendan Perry / vocal, assorted instruments
with
- Renaud Pion / Turkish clarinet
- Peter Ulrich / percussions
- Lance Hogan / percussions
- Ronan O’Snodaigh / percussions
- Robert Perry / percussions

Track List:
01. Nierika – 5:45
02. Song Of The Stars10:12
03. Indus – 9:23
04. Song Of The Dispossessed – 4:55
05. Dedicace Outo – 1:14
06. The Snake And The Moon – 6:11
07. Song Of The Nile – 8:00
08. Devorzhum – 6:13

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(Review from progarchives.com)

By the time of Aion, their fifth album, Dead Can Dance had completed their metamorphosed although they would never stop morphing further. By now, the duo’s music was completely entrenched in pre-classical music, far into European medieval folklore, with touches of ambient music. Graced with a Jerome Bosch-like artwork, Aion is simply Dead Can Dance’s most spectacular work.

Right from the almost A Capella (just a few drum beats) and polyphonic intro of Arrival, you just know that Dead Can Dance has progressed another notch from Serpent’s Egg. The following Satarello plunges deeply into medieval and baroque music, much like Emma Myldenberger or Gryphon would, remaining as close to the original spirit. This trait of character will remain for the duration of the album, as there are no obvious synthesizers, nor other rock instruments throughout the 12 tracks. At the most is there a synth in the back of the vocals of Black Sun, with interesting drumming and Lisa Gerrard’s voice perfectly fitting the medieval spectrum.

There is a sense of repetition of themes already heard over the length of the album, but nothing tiresome, but ultimately the spirit of perfection and correct rendition of medieval ambiances pervades and the album is a pure joy for those enjoying older and acoustic instruments. All the more comforting is that the gothic epithet takes its historical meaning, closing on the real gothic music (as in pre- classical) instead of the romantic gothic literature or its embarrassing black lipstick rock equivalent.

Line-up:
- Lisa Gerrard / vocals, multi-instruments
- Brendan Perry / vocals, multi-instruments
with
- John Bonnar / keyboards
- Robert Perry / bagpipes
- Andrew Robinson / violin
- Anne Robinson / violin
- David Navarro Sust / vocals

Track List:
01. The Arrival and the Reunion (1:38)
02. Saltarello (2:33)
03. Mephisto (0:54)
04. The Song of the Sybil (3:45)
05. Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book (6:03)
06. As the Bell Rings the Maypole Spins (5:16)
07. The End of Words (2:05)
08. Black Sun (4:56)
09. Wilderness (1:24)
10. The Promised Womb (3:22)
11. The Garden of Zephirus (1:20)
12. Radharc (2:48)

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(Review from allmusic)

With its two sides split between Perry and Gerrard’s vocal efforts, Within the Realm of a Dying Sun serves as both a display for the ever more ambitious band and a chance for the two to individually demonstrate their awesome talents.

Beginning with the portentous “Anywhere Out of the World”, a piece that takes the deep atmospherics of “Enigma of the Absolute” to a higher level with mysterious, chiming bells, simple but effective keyboard bass and a sense of vast space, the album finds Dead Can Dance on a steady roll.

Once again a range of assistant musicians provide even more elegance and power to the band’s work, with a chamber string quartet plus various performers on horns, woodwind, and percussion.

Impressive though the remainder of the first side is, Gerrard’s showcase on the second half is even more enveloping and arguably more successful. The martial combination of drums and horns that start “Dawn of the Iconoclast” call to mind everything from Wagner to Laibach, but Gerrard’s unearthly alto, at its most compelling here, elevates it even higher. “Cantara” is no less impressive, a swirling, drum-heavy song that sounds equally inspired by gypsy dancing, classical orchestras and any number of Arab musical traditions. “Summoning of the Muse” is perhaps too formal in comparison, though still quite impressive, but “Persephone” is the finer effort and a good way to close.

Line-up:
- Lisa Gerrard / vocals, multi-instruments
- Brendan Perry / vocals, multi-instruments
with
- Richard Avison / trombone
- Andrew Claxton / tuba, trombone
- Tony Gamage / cello
- Alison Harling / violin
- Peter Ulrich / tympani, drums
- Ruth Watson / oboe

Track List:
01. Anywhere Out Of The World – 5:08
02. Windfall – 3:30
03. In The Wake Of Adversity – 4:14
04. Xavier – 6:16
05. Dawn Of The Iconoclast – 2:06
06. Cantara – 5:58
07. Summoning Of The Muse – 4:55
08. Persephone (The Gathering Of Flowers) – 6:36

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(Review from allmusic, progarchives.com)

Early punk backgrounds and the like behind them, Perry and Gerrard created a striking, dour landmark in early-’80s atmospherics on their first, self-titled effort. Bearing much more resemblance to the similarly gripping, dark early work of bands like the Cocteau Twins and the Cure than to the later fusions of music that would come to characterize the duo’s sound, Dead Can Dance is as goth as it gets in many places.

Perry and Gerrard’s wonderful vocal work — his rich, warm tones and her unearthly, multi-octave exaltations — are already fairly well established, but serve different purposes here. Thick, shimmering guitar and rumbling bass/drum/drum machine patterns practically scream their sonic connections to the likes of Robin Guthrie and Robert Smith, but they still sound pretty darn good for all that. When they stretch that sound to try for a more distinct, unique result, the results are astonishing.

Gerrard is the major beneficiary here — “Frontier” explicitly experiments with tribal percussion, resulting in an excellent combination of her singing and the rushed music. Then there’s the astonishing “Ocean”, where guitar and chiming bells and other rhythmic sounds provide the bed for one of her trademark — and quite, quite lovely — vocal excursions into the realm of glossolalia. Perry in contrast tends to be matched with the more straightforward numbers of digital processing and thick, moody guitar surge. The album ends on a fantastic high note — “Musica Eternal”, featuring a slowly increasing-in-volume combination of hammered dulcimer, low bass tones, and Gerrard’s soaring vocals. As an indicator of where the band was going, it’s perfect.

This edition of the album also includes the band’s 4-piece follow-up EP, Garden of the Arcane Delights as a bonus. Lisa Gerrard’s voice in Carnival of Light already suggests the future atmospheric, world fusion percussive tapestry. The rest is still rooted in the dark tones and moods of goth rock, where “In Power We Entrust” and “The Arcane” are filled with morbid, eerie sounds of monotonous bass rhythms. Brendan Perry’s vocal rises up from the ashes of Jim Morrison singing over the music of Joy Division. The original cover art depicted a sort of Garden of Eden in negative – an opposite side of paradise?

Line-up:
- Lisa Gerrard / vocal, yang t’chin
- Brendan Perry / vocal, guitar, yang t’chin
with
- Peter Ulrich / percussions
- Paul Erikson / bass
- James Pinker / soundman
- Scott Rodger / bass (11-14)

Track List:
01. The Fatal Impact – 3:21
02. The Trial – 3:42
03. Frontier – 3:13
04. Fortune – 3:47
05. Ocean – 3:21
06. East Of Eden – 3:23
07. Threshold – 3:34
08. A Passage In Time – 4:03
09. Wild In The Woods – 3:46
10. Musica Eternal – 3:51
11. Carnival Of Light (Bonus EP) – 3:31
12. In Power We Entrust The Love Advocated (Bonus EP) – 4:11
13. The Arcane (Bonus EP) – 3:49
14. Flowers Of The Sea (Bonus EP) – 3:28

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