Released
1998
Label
Cold Spring
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
87 Gloucester Ave
Delapre, Northampton
NN4 9PT, England
Visit
Last Edit/Update
21 august, 1998
Ignis Fatuus
THE FUTILITY GODDESS
Track Listing
1. Communion
2. Beyond The Veil
3. Prelude/Immersion
4. Mystery
5. Sanctum Of Ashes
6. Trickle
7. One Tiny Step
8. The Mourning Hours
9. Awe
10. Cache Toi
11. Encomium
12. Dream Sequence 1
"These are mantras of the midnight garden, of
the forest,
of communion. This is musick to be heard but not listened to,
for it is merely a context for which to access your own inner visions, situations,
melodramas, mythologies, encounters and revelations."
-- Reprinted from the CD booklet
Five
years in the making, Ignis Fatuus debut album proves to have been well
worth the wait. The Futility Goddess is a beautiful and deeply evocative album,
rooted in the classical tradition, with an undercurrent of transcendental mystique. About
half of the tracks are instrumental, relying strongly on strings, acoustic piano and
atmospheres; while the other half is adorned with vocals of great lyrical pathos -- at
times performed by Christus 777 himself, and at others by Jarboe of Swans
fame.
Ignis Fatuus,
which in truth is the work of one man -- the enigmatic Christus Snipes or Christus
777 -- first appeared on the Cold Spring compilation Shrine
in 1992, and then in 1996 released a limited single Cache Toi with Jarboe
on vocals, also on Cold Spring. The songs from these -- now deleted
-- releases have been included at the end of The Futility Goddess, making it not
only the premier album by Ignis Fatuus, but also a 'Collected Works'. As
with Ignis Fatuus' other releases, this one too has been made available
by Cold Spring.
The Futility Goddess
revolves around the elusive figure of the perfect woman, or, by extension, perfection
itself, and the inherent futility of pursuing it. The album, especially as revealed in the
lyrics, is at once a painfully personal work, and an attempt at an explication of this
universal paradox.
The first two songs of the CD flow
together seamlessly. "Communion" moves forward at a steady rhythmic pace, the
sole instrument employed being the violin. Jarboe performs the lyrics -- which
work as a set-up or definition of the concept of 'the futility goddess' -- in a
seductively narrative fashion. The piece is both beautiful and elegant in the simplicity
of its arrangement, and, by the mere drop to a lower note, gracefully transforms into the
second track of the album. "Beyond The Veil" is a longer and more developmental
piece, with a snare drum punctuating the march of the strings. The music has a
mesmerizing, wandering quality, with playful sequences of strings gradually breaking down
the staccato pace, originally set by the violin and snare drum. Eventually, a grand organ
theme fades in, and carrying on its powerful notes a soaring male voice, brings
"Beyond The Veil" to its conclusion.
With "Prelude/Immersion" Ignis
Fatuus transports the listener to a sylvan setting illumined by the light of the
full moon, where an encounter of a romantic and magical nature takes place. The
enthralling medieval theme of the piece plays against a background of nocturnal bird and
cicada song, while Christus 777 in a hushed voice narrates the story of this
strange encounter, which leaves the protagonist stranded at the end, alone deep in the
dark and mystical woods.
After a brief instrumental
interlude -- appropriately entitled "Mystery" -- follows the expansive and
melancholically enticing "Sanctum Of Ashes." This song, which is incredibly
powerful and beautiful, opens with a slow, dragging string theme and world-weary vocals; a
frail, gradually unfolding harp theme joins in, as Christus 777's lyrics reveal
the deceptive and fleeting nature of beauty, and the life spent in pursuit of it. With the
final coda of the song: Look at the children / dancing around their trees. / If they
only knew / that the tree would die..., crashing percussions and screaming guitars
erupt in what seems like a final indignant outcry against the very futility of mortal
existence.
The stormy, melancholy atmosphere
is succeeded by a hopeful little piano theme "Trickle"; a short piece preceding
the final segment of The Futility Goddess, with its restoration of faith in
life. "One Tiny Step," "The Mourning Hours" and "Awe" are
all instrumentals, bridged by a continual carpet of subtle environmental natural
recordings. Another shorter piece of layered piano themes with support from a violin
towards the end, "One Tiny Step" carries with it a perturbed, yet resolved mood.
"The Mourning Hours" elaborates on this, conjuring up an atmosphere of renewed
possibility with a grandiose arrangement of strings and chorals. Closing The Futility
Goddess on a strong spiritual note, "Awe" builds on the hopefulness of the
preceding two tracks with swirling layered string arrangements, and the single word Believe
uttered towards the middle of the piece.
The last three tracks on the CD
were as mentioned released previous to this album, and although they display all the same
musical qualities as the new material on The Futility Goddess, they stand outside
the unity of the first nine tracks. First is "Cache Toi," which was initially
released on 7" by Cold Spring in 1996. Slow, dark atmospheres and an
operatic female voice constitute the background for a poem whispered in French by Jarboe.
The same words were included as a brief spoken word segment on Jarboe's solo
album Sacrificial Cake (1995), but presented here with the gripping musical
accompaniment of Ignis Fatuus the words carry much greater weight.
"Encomium" likewise features Jarboe's theatrical vocals against a
rather disconcerting and minimal background of echoing, nocturnal, dripping sounds and
slow gyrating themes. The much too short "Dream Sequence 1" -- the title of
which suggests that it is part of a greater whole -- ends the CD on a very intense note.
Ticking, clacking Percussive sounds, a rolling piano theme, the intermittent sound as of a
sharp blade cutting through thin air, foreboding aural presences that wax and wane, and
then abruptly leave off.
