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The Violence of Distance is the double debut album of Somascetic,
the (almost) solo project of singer songwriter and multi
instrumentalist Shawn Burnette. He only got the support of Andy
Reamer who played on drums and percussion. Burnette is an artist
with a view and is obviously fond of the mystical and the spiritual.
The first disc of this double album is surprisingly strong, bringing
a mixture between progressive and psychedelic rock. The music is
very bass and guitar oriented and the strange synthesizer sounds
give it a special dimension. Burnette has a special deep voice that
fits the dreamy atmosphere very well. I couldn’t help thinking of
last year’s revelation
Riverside
when listening to this album. The same strong bass drive and a
guitar that draws all attention to it. The difference is the absence
of metal elements. This music has a much more dreamy character
although there’s a strong and sometimes heavy pulse in it. “Memory
of Dark” is an amazing piece of music (20 minutes!) and proves that
Somascetic is capable of doing great things. It’s a concept that
lifts you up to higher atmospheres. The songs blend into one another
and now and again breath the atmosphere of the earlier Pink Floyd.
“Out of the Dust” for instance reminds a bit of “Set the Controls
for the Heart of the Sun”, especially the percussion.
The guitar sometimes sounds exactly the same as in the songs of
The Cure, and indeed, the spirit of the eighties can also be
found on this album.
The great thing is that you never get the idea that all instruments
but drums and percussion are played by the same musician. Great
artists can be recognized by the ability to put magic into what they
create. Listen to the intro of “Drifting Down” and you’ll know
exactly what I mean.
The second disc is a bit disappointing though. Starting off very
promising with windy sounds like in Echoes (Pink
Floyd) and a lot of atmosphere, the first track is quite
peaceful with a lot of synthesizers and easy conga percussion. But
the whole of the cd is a bit too much alike. Track number 3 brings
some hard rock but the rest is a bit too quiet and I kept on loosing
attention. If you do it quietly, it should be very passionate and I
miss that. Don’t get me wrong, the acoustic songs aren’t bad and
they’re even well sung, but they just aren’t interesting enough. No
sooner than in the title track Somascetic hooks up on the energy
produced on the first cd, so you still get a nice ending to this
album.
My idea is that Shawn Burnette could have made a nearly perfect cd
if he had had the courage to cut in his material and make it a
single one. But nevertheless, the first cd is more than word while
purchasing this album. Somascetic can only grow and get better… |
