Sunn Creative 2014
Mesmerizing reveries from the masters of nightmare and gauze.
When BRAM STOKER came out of oblivion in 2013 with a new album, their second one after 1972’s debut, it couldn’t prepare classic prog aficionados for this, Tony Lowe’s collaboration with fellow guitarist, and poet, Alison Fleming. Not soporific despite the title suggestion, it’s a richly textured ambient, yet organic in terms of its natural feel, work, so Fleming’s voice is the first sound to float in and usher the listener into “Mystery” before Lowe’s liquid lines weave in and out of an unobtrusive groove. Here’s a promised human, albeit highly hypnotic, touch which grows into a full embrace once the music dynamic expanse swells up, but “Something’s Going On”, where Tony’s vocals complement Alison’s cooing, rolls over the funky strum and riffs.
While lazy disco reigns over most of the album, and “The Visitor” slides on synthesizer caress and organ strokes, its glacial drift splinters when “Silent Spring” introduces an elegiac piano to the mix. Elsewhere, “The Dream Corridor” sees heavy rock cross with folk and techno for almost 12 minutes, in quite an insipid, if theatrical, way, but “Falling” unfurls a blissful beauty with only a pinch of taut, twangy anxiousness. A dreamlike experience, so true to a real life, this album has a wide appeal – new age and pop lovers, hung on ENIGMA, must pay attention.
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