Blossom Cult 2020
Closure
To believe and to prosper: German ensemble revive their rootsy ideas and come alive with a new mission.
If the title of SEEKING RAVEN’s "The Ending Collage" didn’t sound portentous at the time of its release, in 2016, the album signaled the finale for János Krusenbaum and Max Krüger who bowed out in the early 2019 after seven years of conceptual existence to revise their approach and emerge afresh as BLOSSOM CULT. More socially aware and musically nuanced than the previous collective’s oeuvre, “Closure” could be seen as a post-Krautrock work, but constant pursuit of contrast and juxtaposition – dynamic, stylistic etcetera – renders this album somewhat special as twists and turns demand that the listener lose all prejudice and have, in the end, what the record’s title should suggest from the very start.
Bookended with short wordless pieces – “Beginning Of The End” and “The Road Home” which atmospherically, given a delicate groove, outline the ensemble’s hopeful message, this offering invites everybody on a raging journey through one’s mental underworld where orchestral waves sway back and forth over guitar riffs and piano ripple. The symphonic layer will soften the mighty blow of “Atlas” which creates a tense call-and-response between Krusenbaum’s abrasive voice and clear vocals and introduces highly melodic choruses, yet anthemic “Burn” sees his and Krüger’s guitars soar towards power-pop sky without discarding the overall heavy slant.
There’s a metal clang to drive the feverish “My Sickness” before the piece’s refrains reveal a folk-infused balladry the band are capable of, and while the cinematic “Burden” takes the electronica-tinctured anxiety to the extreme, “Cotard Delusion” is as dramatically spiritual as it gets. So “Same Old Song” may inject funk in this heady brew to facilitate the trip, but the cut’s acoustic layer and imaginative beat make the result a part of the adventure. And the adventure just begins when “Closure” stops: this CULT are here to stay.
****
One Response in another blog/article
[…] of SEEKING RAVEN’s didn’t sound portentous at the time of its release, in 2016, the album … Continue reading → Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest […]