Only Once - Brotherhood of Pagans by Mick Mercer
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THE BROTHERHOOD OF PAGANS
ONLY ONCE
Alone Prod
Yes, a great name in French Goth has returned, fourteen years after their last album, but now a proud trio after two former members failed to return to the dusty nest.
‘Am I A Blow Fly?’ is wonderfully delicate, some snappy drums and dipping, flicking strings behind the weird storytelling vocals and then everything untwists, unfurls, and it has a gorgeously relaxed pop feel. ‘Only Once’ repeats the immediacy, as the bubbling rhythm and insistent vocals hook you easily, then the decorative touches brighten the surroundings, like French cousins of Rome Burns. ‘The Garden Of Alkinoos’ switches mood to something slower, elegantly huge and restless as they paint a brooding picture I can’t get quite gather but it’s magnificently deep musically and you drift with it, perplexed but satisfied, weirdly. It’s like a turbo-charged Dali’s Car! It then grows progressively darker, like a book unfolding.
‘As The Serpents Do’ is blessed with classic see-sawing Goth guitar and plenty of atmospheric strata, creating quite a smoky picture, then ‘Resurrection MkII’ dives in quick and starts sawing in a different direction, the guitar eager to escape, synth tickling dark vocals lost in defiance muttering.
‘I’ll Dig Your Grave’ is angry in an interesting fizzing way, the synth shyly active behind the damply compressed guitar and quietly venomous vocals. ‘I Am His Voice!’ is weird, like a drama from a creepy fantasy novel as sad gargoyles become airborne. The vocals hector about becoming a chosen one, as the drums rattle with menace, and ‘Get Off’ is brilliant, the synth vocals rising above as the guitar positively bristles. I have no idea what it’s about it’s an exciting drama with brilliantly fluid bass padding around like there’s a subversive disco involved.
‘The Fate’ is a desperate struggle, which suggests we embrace sludge, and vultures? It’s set somewhere strange. ‘Death Row’ could be the follow up sequence with the prisoner sensing doom and ranting away with some curious statements as guitar slithers beneath him. Closer ‘Jack’ gets your attention straight away with, ‘My name is Jack, I’m paralysed…’ and off it goes with more odd details and a scene set which is dark and disturbing, followed by an unnamed track which is equally filmic, and wonderfully moody, as we have been dragged kicking and screaming into a peculiar world they’ve crated, sort of post-apocalyptic, but somehow parallel with our own.
It is an unusual and imaginative return, and you will be mesmerised.
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