Paul Masvidal, Aeon Spoke’s singer,
guitarist and lyricist, has worked with terminally ill patients and
according to him, he has learnt about the most important things in
life from working with the dying. “Above The Buried Cry” is a sea
rch for the depths of human ‘being’. Don’t expect any superficial,
happy songs here; this album breathes pain and sadness from
beginning to end.
“Sophisticated, modern rock, wading in melancholic waters”, that’s
what Aeon Spoke sounds like according to the bio. The band is
sometimes described as Coldplay/Keane meets Porcupine Tree. I can
get along with that: this is mostly guitar rock with a progressive
touch. Marillion fans might want to listen to this as well; some of
the songs could come right off one of Marillion’s more recent
albums.It all sounds
beautiful, emotional and sentimental, but sadly, there is very
little variation. And that’s my main gripe with this album: it all
sound a bit… the same. Some of the songs are wonderful: “Grace”,
“Yellowman” and “Emmanuel” are absolutely stunning. Masvidal’s
melancholic voice and the dreamy atmosphere really get to me at
those moments. But after a while, my attention wavers and it even
starts to bore me a bit. A pity; these songs would have a much
greater impact if they were surrounded by a few more uptempo tracks.
“Above The Buried Cry” is definitely not a bad album and some of the
songs are really touching. But as a whole, I’m afraid there’s a bit
too little variation to be completely satisfying.
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