BRUCE SOORD & JONAS RENKSE: WISDOM OF CROWDS

I didn't know that Bruce Soord, THE PINEAPPLE THIEF front man was such a Metal fan. In an interview he mentioned how big a fan he was of CELTIC FROST and DEATH in the 90's, and that he still listens to them. He's also a huge KATATONIA fan, so much so that he decided to record an album meant for the voice of KATATONIA's vocalist Jonas Renske. Bruce said that if Jonas had said he was too busy or wasn't interested in doing this, it would have been shelved. The music was designed for that one voice. And what a voice! Soord mentioned that Jonas has a voice that shouldn't work with a band like KATATONIA, but it does. It's unique for sure and I'm a big fan myself.

Soord spent some 4 years on this, on and off in his studio before contacting Jonas. Renske was "in" but both artists were so busy with their bands recording and touring that it would be a challenge to get together, but they did. Love the picture in the liner notes of Bruce up close looking serious, while Jonas in the background is looking sad as usual. While I'm a big fan of both of these artists I must admit I had my doubts that this would work. Of course I'm thinking of the two bands they front and their style of music. Melancholy is a common theme with both though.

I admit my eyebrows were raised during the first listen. I wasn't expecting a sort of RADIOHEAD/ DEPECHE MODE style of music. But I'm a fan of both and man this album grew quickly on me. There's some great melodies on here, but it's the voice of Renske that's the key along with the lyrics. It's all so well done. Big surprise eh? And while this is a duo, there were two other individuals who were an important part of this. Steve Kitch the keyboardist for THE PINEAPPLE THIEF and owner of his own studio adds synths and programming. While Johnny Wilks an executive at K-Scope helped with lyrics and more, and is mentioned for that in the liner notes.

RYM suggests this is part Art Rock, Alternative and Trip Hop. The fake beats and programmed sounds actually work in my opinion for what they did here. Sure a real drummer would have added some warmth, but Soord's guitar work really helps with that. Bruce is in fine form here as his guitar work is outstanding. Gritty at times but he changes it up. We get nine tracks worth around 57 minutes. This was released in 2013.

While I have my favourites, Bruce mentioned that his favourite track on here is "The Centre Of Gravity" for the mellotron chorus which he feels was the best he's done. And I have to mention that at 5 minutes there is so much going on, it's pretty crazy. Good song but a top two track for me is the almost balled-like "The Light" for the humble lyrics and that voice. So emotional. Same for the song "Pretend" as it hits me the same way, especially before 2 minutes when the emotion rises.

Honestly tracks two to five is such a great stretch of music. That includes the title track which reminds me of "Blackstar" surprisingly. Another moving piece. "Radio Star" and "Frozen North" are so good and the latter kept getting stuck in my head. This one has it's heavy outbursts. Not big on "Stacked Naked" but the closer is well done called "Flows Through You", then there's about a minute of silence before a hidden track called "Your God" ends the recording.

It was tempting to go 4.5 stars just because it's still growing on me, but this has it's issues too. 4 stars seems just right, and this is one of those albums that really needs a few spins before giving an opinion.