Amber Asylum - The Natural Philosophy Of Love

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Released
1996

Label
Relapse Records

Reviewed by
Petra Morovich

Contact

P.O. Box 251
Millersville, PA 17551

Last Edit/Update
20 January, 1998

Amber Asylum

THE NATURAL
PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE

Track Listing

1. Cupid
2. Exodus
3. Looking Glass
4. Song of the Spider War
5. Jorinda and Joringal
6. Looking Glass reprise
7. Poppies

Placing this CD into my stereo brought with it some expectations, as Amber Asylum combines the requisite haunted vocals of Goth with what I always thought was a natural predecessor and something of a grandfather to serious, depressing music: classical instruments. The cello and violin are the weapons of choice in this band, played by Kris Force, Martha Burns, and the stereotypically named Annabel Lee.

          Track 1, "Cupid," began well enough, with a slow melody accompanied by Force's operatic vocals, but the misplaced battle between the cello and violin, both competing with the guitar and vox, ruined the smooth feeling of the beginning. Although they might have been looking for an exciting argument between those two instruments, the band simply ended up making too much noise to preserve the potential of peace within "Cupid."
          "Exodus"'s opening notes brought to mind the theme to M*A*S*H, but that lasted for only a short while before the rest of the melody sauntered into place. Although the music was well orchestrated, the constantly repeated lyrics dragged down the power of this song. By the time I had had enough of this lyrical entropy, the song was only three minutes through, but felt as if it had lasted longer than one of Front Line Assembly's marathon offerings.
          "Looking Glass" followed, and cheered me up for the fate of the entire album. This instrumental track played slowly and beautifully, perfect music for ponderance. It seemed that the band caught on to some style here, as the next track, "Song of the Spider War," passed by in much the same manner as the one before it. Force's soft, drawn vocals finally managed to add to the musical beauty, instead of competing with it. Same goes for the next song, "Jorinda and Joringal," as well as a reprise of "Looking Glass" following it. The melodies in each of those pieces followed a slow, almost whiny pattern, but never irritating to the ear. The "Looking Glass' reprise methodically placed what sounded like toned down sonar waves in parts of the song, added vocals, and proved to me the power of this band, which leads me to believe that the mess in the first two tracks was either an accident or the result of harebrained high-ranking fools at the record company thinking it sounded good.
          "Poppies," the finishing song, is reminiscent of echoing monastery walls and organ music filtering through the halls as nuns sing their way to morning prayer. The spare use of guitars throughout added to this secular effect. Quite beautiful, this track may even rival the sisters in the Sound of Music. Even though the album began as something of a letdown, the rest of the songs found their rhythm and made me appreciate the beauty of Classical Goth.

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