The Eden House
Posted: 27 May 2009, 22:36
I can't find a thread dedicated to this stunning new outfit, so I'm starting one...
My views (copied over from the Dawnrazor forum):
I got my copy from the nice people at Resurection Records 4 days ago now. I've listened to it all the way through, uninterupted, several times and I have to say it is fabulous.
My usual taste lies in the arena of upbeat riff and drum machine driven Goth Rock. This album is worlds away from that, yet to my ears it is clearly something special.
The sound is very rich, with a lot of intertwining layers that complement, and never compete with, each other. The harder you listen, the more you can hear - which makes it the perfect album for becoming fully absorbed in. I never liked Elizium very much until I sat down with nothing to distract me and LISTENED to it (rather than let it act as the sound track to my days activities). Until I let myself drown in its depths I thought it a tad dull compared to its more song driven predessor. With these musical lessons in mind, I approached Smoke and Mirrors in a different way than I normally would and was instantly rewarded.
To me this record is very much a development of the Elizium sound, with a little taken away and a little of something a different added in. The up temo Goth Rock numbers, such as For Her Light, aren't present in this post Nephilim soundscape, but the atmospheric numbers seem condenced and morphed into entirely different animals.
Although musical metaphors never really work when you take them from your head and put them into words (ever tried to tell someone something sounds moe yellow?), but allow me to digress; If during Elizium the listener finds themself looking out onto a vast sonic expanse (Morphic Oceans if you will), during Smoke and Mirrors the listener is confronted with a musical chasm with of seemingly endless depth.
Even at this early stage I've heard some moments slightly reminiscant of The Cure's Pornography, although apart from the Nephilim and Tony's distinctive bass it doesn't wear its influences too much on its sleeve. At times (especially on one the male vocal parts in one of the songs) it sounds like it has a bit of the more soulful elements of Trip Hop in it.
One of the joys of this record is that each new listen is a wholley rewarding experience and new things surface each time. I'm certainly looking forward to going to the shows (I'll be at WGW and WGT) and wearing the t shirt and generally getting as involved as possiblewith all things Eden House.
I continually tell people that Goth is not a genre restricted to the 1980's (something the musical media never seemed to grasp) - If I had to educate someone on the sound of Goth in this new century I'd point them in the direction of several albums and artists, and The Eden House would definatly be one of them.
I predict that the next few years are going to be very very exciting, musically, for myself. I've heard the previews of the mind blowing new Solemn Novena album, I've seen the live strength and dedication of Rhombus and now I've been dragged into the magical depths of The Eden House. Vendemmian and Grooving In Green (Children On Stun) are pushing forward with new material, I've yet to even listen to Adoration (whom people seem to be taking a lot of notice of) and I have every intention of making an impact with my own band. The future's bright - the future's BLACK.
My views (copied over from the Dawnrazor forum):
I got my copy from the nice people at Resurection Records 4 days ago now. I've listened to it all the way through, uninterupted, several times and I have to say it is fabulous.
My usual taste lies in the arena of upbeat riff and drum machine driven Goth Rock. This album is worlds away from that, yet to my ears it is clearly something special.
The sound is very rich, with a lot of intertwining layers that complement, and never compete with, each other. The harder you listen, the more you can hear - which makes it the perfect album for becoming fully absorbed in. I never liked Elizium very much until I sat down with nothing to distract me and LISTENED to it (rather than let it act as the sound track to my days activities). Until I let myself drown in its depths I thought it a tad dull compared to its more song driven predessor. With these musical lessons in mind, I approached Smoke and Mirrors in a different way than I normally would and was instantly rewarded.
To me this record is very much a development of the Elizium sound, with a little taken away and a little of something a different added in. The up temo Goth Rock numbers, such as For Her Light, aren't present in this post Nephilim soundscape, but the atmospheric numbers seem condenced and morphed into entirely different animals.
Although musical metaphors never really work when you take them from your head and put them into words (ever tried to tell someone something sounds moe yellow?), but allow me to digress; If during Elizium the listener finds themself looking out onto a vast sonic expanse (Morphic Oceans if you will), during Smoke and Mirrors the listener is confronted with a musical chasm with of seemingly endless depth.
Even at this early stage I've heard some moments slightly reminiscant of The Cure's Pornography, although apart from the Nephilim and Tony's distinctive bass it doesn't wear its influences too much on its sleeve. At times (especially on one the male vocal parts in one of the songs) it sounds like it has a bit of the more soulful elements of Trip Hop in it.
One of the joys of this record is that each new listen is a wholley rewarding experience and new things surface each time. I'm certainly looking forward to going to the shows (I'll be at WGW and WGT) and wearing the t shirt and generally getting as involved as possiblewith all things Eden House.
I continually tell people that Goth is not a genre restricted to the 1980's (something the musical media never seemed to grasp) - If I had to educate someone on the sound of Goth in this new century I'd point them in the direction of several albums and artists, and The Eden House would definatly be one of them.
I predict that the next few years are going to be very very exciting, musically, for myself. I've heard the previews of the mind blowing new Solemn Novena album, I've seen the live strength and dedication of Rhombus and now I've been dragged into the magical depths of The Eden House. Vendemmian and Grooving In Green (Children On Stun) are pushing forward with new material, I've yet to even listen to Adoration (whom people seem to be taking a lot of notice of) and I have every intention of making an impact with my own band. The future's bright - the future's BLACK.
