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Recently you could read the review of
the new Darzamat CD ‘Oniriad’. But this is not the only musical
result after a few years of silence. Rafal ‘Flauros’ Gloral has
founded a new project in the beginning of 2002, together with
Krzysztof Michalak and ex-Darzamat guitarist Damian Kowalski.
Damian Wolff (also member of Chort) became the drummer and at live
gigs Mastiphal bass player Cymeris will accompany them. The idea of
the Taboo project had its origin about five years ago, during the
recording sessions of the ‘In the opium of the black veil’ CD of
Darzamat. Registration took place in their own Post Street studio
in Katowice from November 2002 till April 2003.
‘Underaba’ is an adventurous trip
through musical worlds at the edge of the mysteries of life,
enriched with dark, poetic lyrics. Both guitars and drums create a
very spatial and trance atmosphere, due to a lot of effects.
Already in the first track ‘Symbols’ we can discover some Oriental
influences in the guitar sounds. The timbre reminds me of Green
Carnation and Pink Floyd. A slightly distorted voice, many rhythm
changes, dark spoken fragments with a theatrical nature, that’s what
you hear, and yet all these impressions together make an impressive
mix : the guitar chords of the beginning repeat and ‘Symbols’ has a
catchy refrain that keeps spinning in your head.
Music made by three guitar players in
this case doesn’t mean we hear ‘a symphony of noise’ but indeed an
atmospheric sound-scape with a lot of effects flowing into a
spacious mood. In ‘Bottom of silence’ mixed with some industrial
influences, while the vocals keep somewhat threatheningly all the
time. This track explodes in pulsing sounds which would do well in
a documentary about the universe. ‘Fascination of darkness’
suddenly reminds me of the early works of ‘Magazine’, a feeling that
rises again later while listening to ‘Cold feelings’. But just a
bit later it’s also obvious that recent songs of Tiamat with
Edlund’s hoarse, mysterious voice aren’t that far away from this
music. Above all in a sense of experiment with psychedelic moods to
guide you on the intergalactic highway, this Swedish band had some
smooth influence on Taboo.
One of the highlights of the CD, in my
opinion, is ‘Wind has gone away from my dreams’, a track where bass
lines and vocals are inclined to (new) wave and gothic stuff.
Nostalgia and melancholy are the centre of the earth here,
whispering voices and guitars sounding like a grind organ (those
nice effects!). The spoken parts create a spooky, surrealistic
feeling ending up in a lugubrious way with a siren. The interaction
between spherical parts and breaking riffs keeps this a high voltage
experience to listen to. ‘Verse of mysticism’ could have been a
song of The Old Dead Tree, the way of singing and changing moods.
In the next songs we can hear some Oriental influences in the guitar
lines again. But the summit of creepiness is a track called
‘Illusory words of goodbye’. There is no Alice Cooper road show
needed here to enter the theatre of vampires. Moreover very catchy
refrain. On my version of the CD there are 2 bonus tracks.
‘Passion’ which would fit very well on a new gothic metal scene
(Sentenced, Embraze). I even hear a violin, but there are so many
effects I can’t be sure if it’s real. And the second bonus is a
cosmic version of my favourite ‘Wind has gone away from my dreams’,
almost sacral and more transparent than the first version (but I
prefer the first one).
The band is looking for a label to
release this promising CD. If you are interested you can make
contact with
taboo@pal-mar.com.pl |
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