Transubstans 2013
Salvation
Four albums in, the noise gets dirty but the orchestral sights remain clear.
Song called “Die Die Die” is a hell of a way to start a record, but then there’s a method to this Swedish collective’s madness: where else to go from such a beginning than not towards bright-eyed optimism? And if the electric chuggle may seem repetitive in places, Mr. Pillow’s imaginative drumming keeps the band’s feet in the air.
The quintet may go deep down with bluesy slide guitar in the heart of “Good Ol’ Black Magic” and “The Escape Artist”, but it’s hard not to get hooked on the title such as “The Surgeon And The Virgin”, its cinematically serious flow notwithstanding, or the dancefloor glimmer of “New Age Inc”, which combines disco grooves with sharp riffs and wraps the result in metallic foil.
The real wonder, though, lies in the acoustically-tinged, arresting crawl of “Monsoon Song” with its folky magnetism, and in “Beating Butterflies” that, for all its generic alternativity, possesses a memorable chorus, while “Dead Eden” brings things to a close with a muscular rock ‘n’ roll. That garden is worth dying for, perhaps, yet a fourth record’s quite a time to decide which stylistic way to go.
***1/3
