London

It's amazing how prolific and musically effusive you can be! A year after the very promising "From The Human Forest Create A Fugue Of Imaginary Rain" which perfectly filled the gap after Akercocke's split-up, the gentlemen from Voices released another album, this time briefly and eloquently named "London". However, this arouses great admiration, because in the current situation it's extremely rare for albums released year after year to come into an increase in form, originality and the discovery of a new formula in familiar patterns, and "London" is an album that - as I will soon prove - meets these three criteria. It's also interesting in that the second lp by Peter Benjamin & co. even outperforms several older titles of the band, without which the Voices could not have existed at all. So, "London" landed exactly where "Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone" did - at the absolute peak of suit metal.

It's definitely impossible to dispute this. "London" is the same level of genius as the above-mentioned album from 2005, and at the same time a huge breath of freshness to a well-known style. What's new is definitely the album's concept, which catches your attention quickly - if for some reason you missed the visual aspect of the album. Gentlemen Benjamin, Gray, Loynes and Abela take us to a rather extensive story of the Artist's dilemmas and his perspectives on perceiving the titular London as a city full of overwhelm, dejection, crime and depravity. This is one of the interpretations, because if you delve deeper into the lyrics, you can find another meaning. But why do I mention this when I usually ignore the lyrical layer? And because there is no other way here. This thread gives us the feeling of being in touch with a musical adaptation of (too) real London realities, it perfectly complements the metal side of the album, and the compositions themselves, by the narrator's lines, keep us in suspense, which makes us want to know what it will be like. The story is so absorbing and full of a mysterious aura that once you start listening to it, you won't want to stop - something like Agatha Christie's crime stories.

Finally, music. This surprisingly effectively combines the approach to writing songs from the debut of Voices and the already mentioned "Words That Go Unspoken...", making the music of this quartet as diverse as Akercocke, and in terms of intensity even a step further from the well-known band (yes, David Gray outdid himself here!). So there is no problem when the band moves from rainy climates to extreme brutality and when it ends with a soothing motif straight from Lykathea Aflame. "London" is a powerfully twisted music that perfectly combines opposites. And what do we have here! "Music For The Recently Bereaved" with great dramaturgy, the possessed "The FuckTrance", "Megan" with a drum solo that avant-garde/jazz bands would be proud of, the soothing "The Ultimate Narcissist", the intriguing "Hourglass" with extensive, female vocals, and this is just a fragment of the attractions and novelties that "London" offers. In fact, with such twists, brutality and unusual atmosphere, the gentle and ethereal patterns are also really great. The melodies are sophisticated, while Benjamin's clean, pop-like vocals, ironically, emphasize the seriousness of the album or provide a moment of respite from the foggy heaviness of the album. To put it bluntly, "London" blows away in every respect.

Therefore, if someone misses the ambitious and extreme formula of Akercocke, they should listen to the second album Voices without hesitation. Well, "London" perfectly continues the themes from "Words That Go Unspoken...", and at the same time offers an interesting, lyrical story, and from the purely musical side, it perfectly moves this suit style into avant-garde regions and instead of such strong Satanism it has unique, rainy-urban atmosphere. Therefore, it's difficult to find a better recommendation for a flight to London than the one proposed by Voices.

Originally on A bit of subjectivism...in metal