A PARASITE'S GUIDE TO REWRITING HISTORY

Spiral have many mindbending albums, and this is another entry in their now deep body of work. If you're new to them, Spiral are described here as Psych/Space, but they are certainly on the heavier side of that group. To give you a very general idea, imagine 1968-71 Saucerful/Careful-era Floyd knocked off-kilter with a shot of something a bit industrial. You'll find passages of plaintive, largely clean guitars paired with Wright-ish keyboards, wave upon wave, lulling you into dreamy space. Distorted lead guitars are less prominent this time and, when they are featured, they tend to be unconventional and trippy. Every so often things are elevated to heavy-as-hell, writhing, distortion, musical masonry, yet this particular release feels less consistently heavy than some Spiral releases.

I'd say this is maybe the mellower side--for them--and it works really well to my ear. Vocals are generally toned down from Spiral's sometimes maniacal screams and howls. Large sections drop percussion, which is a great decision for the realms this album has chosen to inhabit. I love the softer, meditative spaces--so patient, nothing rushed. Sometimes motifs are laid back and dreamy; other times they have rigid, ominous harshness that conjures marching hammers. With an hour of time divided into just two long pieces, it's a perfect scenario for a luxurious listening experience that could be active or perhaps just droning in your background as you putter about preparing for the coming dystopia.

As with all Spiral releases, great care is taken in the preparation of storytelling, grand lyrical visions, and evocative artwork. While I love their artwork and presentation, I don't pay much attention to lyrics. Music is about music for me, not words, and so I've little opinion there--music like this allows me to surf my own thoughts, to take life inventories against the ticks that remain. It's been so long since I've found myself in the Spiral universe, but it was fun to venture there once again. This is the Spiral title for people who might enjoy that Floyd at Pompeii performance but perhaps wish for a wee bit of heavy, doomy drone to crash that party. It's very much one of my favorite titles from the children of the desert.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to Finnforest
• Report this review (#3108482)
• Buy SPIRAL music online with PA partners
• Show all SPIRAL MP3/Stream
• Go to SPIRAL page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to A Parasite's Guide to Rewriting History page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for SPIRAL related discussions