FRACTURED

LUNATIC SOUL the side project of the RIVERSIDE frontman has been around for almost 10 years now, hard to believe. This is album number five and I'm not sure where I would place this one when compared to the rest. My favourite by far is "Walking On A Flashlight Beam" but I'm so intrigued with the first three albums where the vocals were sparse and we had so much atmosphere and electronics. And the subject matter of those three only adds to the enjoyment as we follow this soul who has just died and his journey after that. True headphone albums and the second one "II" is my favourite of those. This latest one called "Fractured" seems to be a therapy album for Duda who had a tragedy in his life recently. Lots of vocals here giving the impression that this is the most commercial sounding recording of this project but this is far from being commercial 99% of the time.

"Blood On The Tightrope" is a great way to start the album and it's just outside of my top three. Sounds like a electronic rhythm to start as the atmosphere builds and the vocals and drums kick in. It's surprisingly aggressive before 2 minutes with vocal melodies then it settles back. Sounds like high pitched synths around 2 1/2 minutes. I like the piano a lot before 4 minutes bringing Kevin Moore to mind. A change 6 1/2 minutes in as a determined rhythm takes over and builds. Excellent track!

"Anymore" opens with beats, electronics and bass, synths too. It's kind of catchy as the vocals arrive. Man I get tired of that repeated line "You don't talk to me anymore" and yes that's the 1% that's commercial on this record. At least the instrumental part of this song is top notch. I like the synths before 3 minutes but I have mixed feeling over this one.

"Crumbling Teeth And The Owl Eyes" opens with keys, percussion and picked guitar as the vocals join in. A pleasant sound here. Some emotion 1 1/2 minutes in with the swelling synths and vocals. A calm with picked guitar 3 minutes in along with some vocal expressions. It kicks in after 4 minutes to a fuller sound. Man this is interesting to listen to after 5 minutes then the vocals return.

"Red Light Escape" starts with atmosphere and beats with vocals. Love when it turns more serious around 1 1/2 minutes then back to the vocals. That serious sound is back as themes are repeated. Sax after 4 1/2 minutes.

"Fractured" is a top three track. Beats and atmosphere as the vocals join in. Drums and bass too as we get this great sound a minute in. Love this one. So much going on 2 1/2 minutes in. So good! Active drumming after 3 1/2 minutes as the vocals become more passionate. It's brief though.

"A Thousand Shards Of Heaven" is my favourite song on here and it clocks in at over 12 minutes. Picked guitar I believe and strings before it settles and vocals join in around a minute. This is ballad-like but man I like it. So much emotion to say the least. Gulp. Love when it starts to pick up after 4 1/2 minutes with vocal melodies. Sax arrives 6 minutes in then back to the vocals before 8 minutes. Emotion once again before 9 1/2 minutes instrumentally. Ripping sax before 11 minutes and a fuller sound. Nice. It then calms down with sax and strings.

"Battlefield" rounds out my final top three. Deep pulsating sounds as the vocals and a beat join in quickly. The synths before 1 1/2 minutes are interesting as the vocals step aside. So much going on then the vocals return. Those synths are back as themes are repeated. Love the sound before 6 1/2 minutes with the vocals, synths and drum work.

"Moving On" ends it as we probably gather from this title that this album is about a broken relationship. Drums to start as vocals and synths join in. It's kind of cool the way this song sounds, it's in my top five with the opener. Sax late.

A beautiful album that is sparse and atmospheric. Easily 4 stars.