Soothsayer Orchestra – The Last Black Flower Review

I’ve an excellent admiration for the solo creator. Because of my consideration deficiency dysfunction, the 2 duties I wrestle most with are staying motivated and staying organized. The form of dedication it takes to carry out each half of what’s ordinarily a workforce effort appears Herculean to me. Pieter Hendriks (Black Bottle Riot, Born From Ache) has that form of dedication, although, as The Final Black Flower is his second album as Soothsayer Orchestra, a mere 2 years after the self-titled debut. However does dedication equal high quality?

One factor Soothsayer Orchestra has in spades is inspiration. The vary of genres and moods spanned by The Final Black Flower is nothing wanting huge, particularly contemplating its scant half-hour of working time. Opener “Celestial Virtues” is a jangling, drum-heavy piece of country-flavored progressive rock, however follow-up “The Bonedigger’s Blues” has extra in frequent with the guitar-driven deep south doom of Goatsnake. “Galaxy Gazing for Supernovas” turns off the gravity with probably the most ethereal of Nick Cave-isms, just for “Kissed by a Tyrant” to crash again to Earth and deep into the dust, delivering a creeping crawl via the underbrush, sporting a major Swans affect combined with each 9 Inch Nails and Peaceville-style doom. Although a few of these kinds and influences do recur, there are nonetheless additional outliers down the highway, particularly “Black Mud” which swerves deep into ambient industrial noise territory.

Variety in songwriting is a superb factor, however it turns into more and more tough to maintain the Frankensteinian monster from coming aside on the seams. Hendriks manages a form of compromise, the place the album doesn’t dissolve into a wholly random assortment of unrelated items, however does retain a moderately anthological perspective. The uniting elements are Hendriks’ gravelly drawl, typically layered a number of occasions or squeezed via filters or varied kinds, and the overarching affect of American folks music. Mixed with the encroaching electronics that worm their manner into the compositions invokes imagery of post-apocalyptic survivors jamming uncooked blues on half-destroyed discovered devices, and that’s the environment that holds the album collectively, even when the songs appear to float aside.

Not the entire particular person compositions work completely, per se. “Black Mud,” for all its creepy-crawly soundscapes, is essentially aimless, and “Eternal Wings” leans on its narration greater than it should. Nearer “The Shadow” is the one observe I’d name repetitive, its refrain taking on an excessive amount of of its complete house, and it ends moderately abruptly, and the album with it. Between that and the whiplash that happens between a number of the different tracks, I ponder whether a tweaking of the observe order may have improved The Final Black Flower’s circulate. And but, total, I discover the album infallibly partaking. The vibe is moderately distinctive, the way in which it blends blues and noise, and Hendriks’ voice is tough in texture however brims with fashion and character. Moreover, the manufacturing has hit the candy spot between readability and dirt, fairly a feat contemplating there’re loads of competing layers to the extra atmospheric tracks.

The promo sheet stated that ‘[the album] takes the listener on a musically dynamic journey via Hendriks his thoughts.’ Hardly ever are these sheets this on level. The Final Black Flower jumps from one style to the following. It’s a wierd, generally uneven and infrequently unnerving album. Nevertheless it’s additionally not fairly like the rest I’ve heard in a very long time, and that’s the form of idiosyncrasy that I search for in solo creators. Soothsayer Orchestra has its flaws, however it’s an interesting and extremely unique journey. In case you’re on the lookout for one thing on the fringes, I counsel you’re taking it.

Ranking: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Lay Naked Recordings
Web site: soothsayerorchestra.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: February 4th, 2023

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