2006-03-29
It’s been almost four years since Canaan’s last masterpiece, “A Calling to weakness”, and now they return with yet another one (that even manages to overthrown it).
Defining the music they make simply as Doom or Goth rock doesn’t seem right with this sort of boutique release; however, the tracks can be divided in to two groups- one has atmospheric/intro-like qualities and the other is more structured like generic songs in a standard band-like suite.
To me it seems like each pair of songs is connected (meaning 1 with 2, 3 with 4 and so on…).
To start things off, “The wrong side of things” gives a dark and eerie atmosphere which would make one develop malicious thoughts or become extremely paranoid, the added chants in the end of it lean towards the latter – quite a manifestation of the song’s title.
This song pairs up with “This world of mine”, where the drums carry you in a long journey through the desert- one’s mouth dries, each step is harder, the agonizing sun by day and the bone-piercing cold by night – from the very beginning the album taps your emotional world.
The next two offer the desert by night (continuing on with the same metaphor); “Sterile” gives me a feeling that it is night but all are awake and listening to every little noise through its correct use of the ethnic Arab motif on the strings and the braking/rattling noises; it’s partner “The possible nowheres” is a profound and oldschool-sounding song with melancholic lyrics about the understanding of the end.
The same line carries on in the next tracks; Fragment #1’s wind brought a Gregorian Choir and “Senze una riposta” (roughly meaning: Without one answer) is a song to light your lighter for, a good one regardless of the fact it’s in Italian, but suffers from a mix where the vocals are put too high while the instruments are to low – it would have helped if the instruments weren’t so castrated by this choice of mix.
“Fragment #2” comes from a different ethnic direction- a far eastern one perhaps, that would suite modern dancing well, and “Fragile” is a chained/tormented self-reflection highlight.
“Fragment #3” can be described as the sound of the wilderness and its follower, “In a never fading illusion”, is yet another highlight for it gives an alienated feeling (as if you were disabled and displaced) via the minimal drumwork, the crystal-clear vocals, the added noise samples and the keyboards that carry and infuse it.
The noise addition overrules in “Just another noise”, where it is stretched to a disturbing manner, making the listener unpeaceful while the self-aware “Il rimpianto” (meaning: The Regret) can be described as relaxing, with a father-like vocals and ambient keyboard.
The title track has a powerful chorus, with the added Gregorian-like chants, and is pretty solid although I feel it’s lyrics miss the point, and it brakes the song arrangement pattern the album has established so far; but next track (Fragment #4) is a definite highlight, minimalist by character, with samples of how a children’s game/rhyme (in an Arabic language of some sort if I’m not mistaken) – the atmosphere is as if one is in a dream or haze.
The vintage keyboards of “Never again” were all it took to buy me, the repeated melody and the effected drum part sealed the deal.
This bring us to the end of the journey, with “Nothing left”, were I feel Canaan have managed to combine both of their sides perfectly; where the lyrics are connected to the effected vocals and instruments, as if coming from a dying system – making this track the best one in the album and closing the album ever so gracefully.
I just hope it won’t take another long period of time until their next masterpiece album.
Ofer Vayner
