An Albatross - Blessphemy (Of the Peace Beast Feastgiver and the Bear Warp Kumite)
Rating
RIYL
Genghis TronDillinger Escape Plan
The Blood Brothers
At the Drive-In
Tracklist
1. In the Court of the Bear King2. Lysergically Yours, My Psychedelic Bride
3. Dimensional Gymnastics
4. Trust the Sun, The Symphonic Sunrise
5. Divine Birthrite (Maiden Voyage of the Grape Ape)
6. I. Behold the Light
7. II. Profane Illumination
8. III. The Illumination of the Nation
9. Tossin' and Turnin' All Night
10. Hairobics
11. Ballad of the Electric Coyote
12. I Will Swim into the Lazer Eye
13. Feastgiver
14. Cosmic Gypsy
15. Sacred Geometry
16. Death Rides a Brown Horse
17. Stormbringer
18. Eyes of the Jaguar
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What does it say about a band when it doesn’t achieve on record what it achieves live? On Blessphemy (Of the Peace Beast Feastgiver and the Bear Warp Kumite), the new album from spaz act An Albatross, it says it’s a damn shame.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing these Philadelphia natives live, well, then piss on you. Next to Dillinger Escape Plan and The Blood Brothers, An Albatross is one of the best live rock bands out there, but you wouldn’t think so listening to this record.
It would be easy to disregard this record as shit just in listening to lead singer Edward B. Gieda III, who sounds like a cross between Wario on the Mariokart Nintendo game and a five-year-old who’s had their candy stolen. From what I can tell, Gieda has a strange, funny fantasy of wanting to sound “evil” in the way he screams (or maybe he just has no vocal ability whatsoever). However, An Albatross doesn’t write evil music – it writes structured noise. But seriously, ordinary men and women have had better screaming sessions puking in the toilet after a night-long bender than Gieda does on this album. He is shit for a singer (but maybe that’s the point), and, yes, it would be simple to discount this record with this is mind.
But it gets worse. Musically, An Albatross consistently tries to out-do itself with top-heavy, over-the-top noise antics. This aesthetic conflicts with an obvious attempt to appear progressive with odd time signatures and sudden shifts in tempo. Furthermore, cramming as many ideas as possible into one-or-two-minute numbers leaves the majority of these songs feeling like generic, over-done, muddled compositions (compositions? more like constructed musically crapiness). “Cosmic Gypsy,” “Feastgiver,” “Tussin and Turnin’ all Night Long” and “Dimensional Gymnastics” are perfect examples of this. As you can see, the song titles are also plain stupid. And the lyrics? Let’s not even go there.
After seeing this band live and now hearing them on record, I can’t tell if An Albatross is a joke that wishes to be taken as such, or if it feels like its music is legitimate. Either way, this band is incredible live, and you won’t hear me challenge that. Both the energy and bizarreness in their live show are sure to get your nipples hard and give you a good laugh (what I’m saying is go see them live), but what kind of music fan wants to laugh when listening to a record at home or in the car?
This band is like an accident on the road you drive past and can’t take your eyes away from. If you’re not there to witness it, however, what’s the point in caring? In other words, it’s true this band is interesting and entertaining live, but on record the energy is gone, and what’s left is simply a pile of shit.
--Brent Steven White
Comments
Toronto, Ontario
"Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative."
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Jersey / Raleigh
Chicago
haha.