NAMESAKE CAUTION

Namesake Caution, the last album by Time of Orchids, is an interesting listen. It has ten tracks, only two of which surpass the five minute mark (the seven minute "Crib Tinge to Callow" and the ten minute "We Speak in Shards").

It has been a really challenging album for me. On the first listen, I didn't like it at all, but I've stuck with it for some time, paid attention to the material and let it grow on me, and it has done so, if not as much as I would like.

The music contained within is slow and ponderous; it takes its time to develop, and it is very rarely energetic. As such, this album is best to listen to in the dark or when you are feeling mellow. It is generally guitar driven, with odd and somewhat dissonant chords being used. The rhythms are odd and at times it even sounds a little math-y, although the band never gives fully over to that style. Vocal harmonies are used and may be one of the more colourful aspects of this bands music, which often sounds very grey.

As I said, it takes mulitple listens for this music to really work, for the subtle melodies and the interplay between the instruments to sink in. And once they do, it is a pleasant listen, if not an entirely varied one (I tend to stop hearing it shortly after the halfway mark). It never really comes across as genius or amazing, and even though it has been growing on me for several listens, it's finally reached the point where that seems to be plateauing, so enjoyable and pleasant is as far as this album has got with me.

The best track on the album, to my ears, is "Parades of Seasons", with a great rhtymic start/stop section in the middle. It's also the only one that has been particularly memorable to me thus far.