Don’t you love it when music does that special something like evoke an emotion, whether by calling up a memory or hitting a nerve that causes reflection? I mean, isn’t that really the whole point of the art.Back in May’s edition of Rumors Heard in MySpace, I wrote about an Irish band that we stumbled on called Killing Lazarus and I described the music that they had posted on their site. In the weeks that followed that posting, the band was kind enough to send a completed copy of self titled disc and the thing has gradually become part of my being. Sure, all of the songs are posted on their MySpace page, but I find it a complete and utter nuisance to lug my PC with me in the car or on a backpacking excursion just to listen to the music. The extension cord alone makes it impractical. To really grasp the depth, and breadth, and whole wonderful scope of the music, I needed to have a physical copy of the disc to pop in and out of the CD player. It’s quirky and old school of me, I know . . . but it’s how I operate. But this isn’t about me. The whole point of this post is to talk about the music . . . the subtle complexities, the artistic expressions, and the soulful creativity behind seven songs that very easily could have been lost amongst the billions of cyber songs streaming across the internet.
As I’ve mentioned before, Killing Lazarus work a bunch of different musical styles at the same time. Sometimes going with the aggressive, metallic tones to convey their emotions; other times choosing to tone things down in a more somber mode, conveying yet another set of emotions. Like most of the musicians, I hate categories and I work pretty hard to steer clear of them. Fortunately, these guys do me the favor of being so eclectic in their sound that I never have to worry about filing them in genre where they don’t belong. They sort of create their own. Acoustic and ambient, heavy and psychedelic, soulful and trippy, Killing Lazarus is a band that creates their own sound by borrowing from influences ranging from Alice in Chains to early Pink Floyd. This album opens with a layering of guitars, laden with effects, laying down a tripped out and spacey vibe. The vocals creep into the mix, sounding at times like a mix between Tool’s Maynard Keenan and the dude from Live, texturally ripe with paranoid inflections and psychotic neuroses. “Kill for Fun” then opens up, full of distorted guitars and impassioned vocals, drums crashing like plates from a domestic altercation, the bubbling tensions finally bursting into an eruption of emotion. Ultimately, the emotional tirade dies down and we’re left with a pulsating bass line and some of the most mournful guitar effects that I’ve ever heard. Panting, trying to catch its breath, the song dies down with a gurgle of sound and we’re left to pick up the pieces of the chaos.
“Split the Sky” is a flat out killer of a tune! Performed with just an acoustic guitar or two and the distorted vocals of Dave Lee, this song gets me with the somber melodies at the verse and then the lead up to the chorus . . . wow! The use of the studio trickery and effects adds a unique sound to the song. “Split the Sky” would work just as well stripped down to just the voice and guitar, but the effects give the song an identity that, like the rest of the material on the disc, give Killing Lazarus a sound all their own. This one reminds me of the unplugged Alice in Chains stuff. Heavy, but melodic; dense, but airy . . . the kind of stuff that even the “tough guys” can listen to when they’re going for a more laid back vibe. In other words, it’s ballsy but not obnoxious. Then Killing Lazarus drop a bruising, low end rich throbbing tune that we can all relate to called “I Wanna Get Fucked Up.” We’ve all had those days. Hell, I have them more than I’d like to admit! The tune is driven by a steady, mid tempo beat and a bass tone three feet thick. It’s a dense tune, sonically, and the lyrics with vocal performance pretty much sum up the mood. We all want different things and we’re all held back from achieving some of those goals . . . the answer? Get fucked up. You had a bad day, the boss reminded you that you’re still beneath him and, therefore, you’re the final destination for the river of shit? Get fucked up. Oh . . . I could go on for days about all the justifiable reasons to tip one back, but the point is that we all can relate to this song in some way or another. For the time being, someone please pass me another shot as I get ready to talk about the next song . . .
“Germinate” can probably be classified as the bands epic tune. Clocking in at over ten minutes long, the song is a churning, bubbling, roiling song of turmoil. Just listen to the narrative samples at the beginning of the song being played over the effect drenched guitar lines. The vocals, in their sinister tone, poke out of the dissonance in a very Keenan-esque manner and help create a fantastic sense of tension. Just listen to the various instruments as they build in volume, with each beat getting louder and more intense, plodding along like a great army across the desert plains . . . finally exploding into a vibrant groove riff that flat out rocks. In epic fashion, the song regresses and the narrative samples return and the emotion of the speech sends chills across my skin. I am mad, God damn it! I live in America . . . I have the fuckin’ right to be mad! I’m so mad, I wanna’ get fucked up! Seriously though . . . the lads did a marvelous job of crafting this tune to be a compelling emotional rollercoaster, which is no easy feat for a ten minute track. It’s one thing to pen a ten minute epic with ebbs and flows, but it’s something more remarkable when that song can hold the listeners interest for the duration. Brilliant!The only thing lacking on this Killing Lazarus self titled album is production quality. I understand that the album was done on an 8 track recorder, but as endearing as the raw sound is, some of the tracks would benefit greater from a cleaner production. But what no amount of production can fix is the quality of the song writing, the sheer soul power, and the raw emotion to the music. Those who know me know that I don’t simply fling compliments around and music doesn’t get written about if we don’t like it, so my raving about this should tell you that I’ve found something to this music that calls out to me. It touches those nerves, rattles my cage, inspires me to apply finger tip to keypad . . . its music that accomplishes what the medium is meant to do. It evokes emotion. What more do you want from your music? What more is there to music? - Pope JTE
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