Excellent Moravian band, Forgotten Silence, is our first Czech entry and is interesting enough solely on the merit of their being one of the least-known bands in the countdown despite eight recordings spanning the last 20 years. Part of their anonymity likely arises from their geographic origin, in the southeastern Czech city of Brno, which has altogether too many consecutive consonants in its name to garner much attention in the west as part of a hotbed of creative heavy music. Another part probably owes to that creativity itself, as their music is both adventurous and wildly disparate, drawing on elements of death metal, jazz, electronica, and folk music of varied cultures. Whatever the reason, I doubt many here reading have heard of them, let alone heard them, and that my friends, is an injustice I aim to rectify below.
KaBaAch is their 2000 album, and a favorite of mine. I can't pretend to know specifically what the lyrical content is, but it seems to be a conceptual album having to do with Egypt, and not only the song titles (and lyrics presumably) but the music support the theme. As far as I can tell, this is their only album without prominent keyboards, and I think the sparser sound suits them well. I'm including Rostau - The Sandwaves here mostly because it was one of few from the album I could find on YouTube, but no matter because it's a good example of the songwriting and sound of the album: twisty but groovy, with a natural acoustic sound to the drums. I really want to do some analysis of this song, but it's 11 minutes long and there's a lot that goes on in it, so I'll just point out some notable spots. The opening is hard-charging with a little guitar solo very early in the song. 0:43 has the first groove, which rides over a nifty alternating 7/4-5/4 time signature. At 1:01, this transitions into a more straightforward 4-groove, but with an interesting extension between phrases. If you're having a tough time with the growly vocals, hang in there until the section at 1:45, which features one of my favorite singers, Hanka Nogolová with a strong, mid-range alto that has a wide timbre reminiscent of either gypsy or cabaret music. She'll reappear throughout the song and the album, and is ever impressive. 3:42 kicks off a very jazzy instrumental section. Just listening to this song now for the first time in a long while, I'm smiling, re-realizing how good it is. If you like it and you missed Pan-Thy-Monium earlier, go back and give them a listen. Forgotten Silence is similar but a little less weird. As for the analysis, I give up. There are too many changes in this song. And great moments, especially Hanka, who simply kills it. Just listen and enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment