With influences ranging from Sabbath
to The Melvins, from Tom Waits to Earth, ‘Unholy Majesty’
was never going to be an ordinary proposition. Its skillfully
arranged multi-hook harmonies and majestic instrumentation bring
into play a unique concoction of pastoral leftfield folk, gothic
atmospherics, epic post-metal crunch, psychedelic doom and spiraling
prog-rock, all delivered in a rich, Seventies, analog dynamic.
Part of folk-rock heritage, Rose is the daughter of Maddy Prior
and Rick Kemp from seminal, pioneering British band ‘Steeleye
Span’. After releasing her debut album ‘Glance’
on Park Records, Kemp traded in her acoustic guitar for an electric
and took the turbulent journey into the tempestuous world of leftfield
rock. Following on from 07’s ‘A Handful of Hurricanes’
in which Kemp started to forge her experimental sound, we are
now graced by this latest 10 tracker which showcases great versatility,
immense production values and that oh so riveting voice.
‘Unholy Majesty’ is bookended
by two dizzyingly progressive pieces. Being grandiose alt.rock
tinged with an epic post-metal flair and combined with Kemp’s
hauntingly operatic vocals, both pieces grind and meander across
a gothic soundscape that progresses story-like, delivering both
a sense of dread and a sense of lush beauty. In between these
bruisers, we find Kemp in more serene territory, territory which
does however explode every so often with galvanizing riffage that
could wake the dead. ’Flawless’ and ‘Nature’s
Hymn’ are touching alt.folk lullabies that portray Kemp’s
ethereal side and really bring through her exquisite range of
depth whilst ‘Saturday Night’ takes this serene formula
and steeps it in a more vibrant and darker, Radiohead-esque aesthetic.
‘Wholeness Sounds’ perfectly showcases the albums
immense production values with its rich and harmonious tapestry
of fleeting organ-drone, subtle cosmic feedback, metronomic percussives
and backbone guitar melody that drips with a melancholy majesty.
Kemp’s vocals writhe with a gentle and feminine charm before
the whole track drops into a heroic stomp that will have live
crowds in spazz-mode.
Kemp’s powerful vocals have to be
heard to be believed and the epic setting in which it is displayed
makes for an even greater proposition. The snarling atmospherics
and ever-expanding riffage are easy to imitate but difficult to
make unique, however, ‘Unholy Majesty’ has managed
to twist a clutch of influences into a proprietary sound. Those
with less musical knowledge would most probably compare the sound
of ‘Unholy Majesty’ with that of Evanescence but in
reality there is far more going on and Jarboe’s lysergic,
avant-rock stomp would be a more fitting comparison. (KS)
For
fans of: Jarboe, Neurosis, Jesu, Titan
|
