Dead Can Dance Album: “Spiritchaser”

This being the last album with all new material by Dead Can Dance you expect nothing but great things from this incredibly gifted duo who has transcended music as we know it, and even though some seem a little disappointed in their final offering, I feel that they have not let us fans down at all. Sure, this specific record may not be a crowning achievement, such as the powerful Renaissance of 'Aion' or the Gothic beauty of 'Within the Realm of a Dying Sun' are but I enjoy 'Spiritchaser' immensely. The melodies are still moody and atmospheric, only a bit more upbeat than usual, exuding soundwaves of hypnotic energy, and I simply can't get enough of these songs laden with percussion and a vast array of other influences too. But perhaps I am biased as I do prefer Brendan Perry over Lisa Gerrard and he's heard quite frequently here. Now don't get me wrong, I love them both and like how they balance each other out so well but whenever Brendan Perry starts singing I go into some kind of a trance. Chills race throughout my entire body - especially when he talks over the music, like on "Song Of The Stars". Lisa, however, is truly unique and haunts me with her deep, resonating vocals that seem to soar up into the heavens above. And given the name Dead Can Dance it's no wonder this album would center on how some cultures used to sacrifice living beings so that their soul would become a part of the instrument; otherwise known as the "singing dead".

World musicians in the truest sense of the words, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard transcend all manner of eras, genres and continents. Take a spin through the Dead Can Dance catalogue and you'll go from exploring Baroque cathedrals to dark Eastern forests to chants from the valley of the Gwangi. So considering everything they've done, it makes sense that their final album Spiritchaser is also their most universal and timeless. This music isn't quite attached to a specific time or place. It could have been played around bonfires by African tribesmen before the dawn of our civilization. It could have come from European mystics in the time of the Renaissance, South American cultures in the middle ages, goths in a dark underground club in modern America.. maybe even by tribal cavemen scattered through Gondwana before our continents of today were even made (if such people existed; hey, use a little imagination here).

As always with DCD, Spiritchaser isn't a collection of songs so much as a personal listening experience. The ambience is just as important as the notes themselves. In contrast to their previous work, they slowly drone through one easy groove after another for eight or ten minutes at a stretch. And by 'drone' I don't mean numbing the listener to sleep through sheer boredom; I mean weaving exotic beats and sounds together, one layer at a time, at a slow easy pace. Music is never boring - boredom is in the mind of the listener.

That being said, this isn't the kind of music everyone will give their full attention to. This is probably better to work to, to relax or read or sleep or meditate. It's hypnotic, it's mystical, it's transcendental, it draws you in slowly with its own spell rather than grabbing your ears from the start. This isn't the light world-beat stuff you hear from new age artists, this is as earthy and real as the ground beneath our feet.

One last note. Though opinions are varied as to which DCD album is their finest, it's pretty safe to say that their first (self-titled) album and their last (this one) are not the best ones to look into if you're new to the group. I'd recommend Spiritchaser if you have at least two of the others already, and if you're willing to give it a few good listens before making a judgment. Each time you'll hear something you didn't before.

Many people I have talked to didn't like the shift in musical direction on "spiritchaser". If you think this, you should go back and listen to all the DCD CD's in order, and then try to convince me that this change was unexpected. The adherence to the medieval sound on Aeon and Dying Sun were departed from long ago. Even on those older albums, some of the best songs were Eastern influenced, such as Cantara (the live version on TtW being their best song IMO).

I've always enjoyed the way that DCD has mixed early European music with traditional Eastern folk music. On Spiritchaser they continue this while adding influences from African and Native American sounds blending them into one of the most relaxing and beautiful CDs that I own. It's unfortunate that the band broke up after this CD, because I think Lisa Gerard's solo work is great, but it hasn't matched the feel of DCD. I haven't decided what I think of Perry's solo work yet...

A masterpiece beyond time and space, Dead Can Dance's latest album, Spiritchaser, transcends the mundane boundaries of the tired popular music scene to bring us a vision of surreal power and spiritual beauty. Incorporating both ancient tribal rhythm and modern instrumentation, the sounds on Spiritchaser sends the listener down the Amazon and through the Nile, across the spectral realms of Ancient America, and at times, out beyond the stars. Haunting, powerful and deeply entrancing, here is an album that every lover of music should own. Soothing, yet intense; melancholy, yet uplifting, here is an album that has appeal for the many without ever selling out to the masses. Having worked at a outlet that sold world imports, I can state this as a fact, as I've played this album there countless times. I may have sent out 100 people to buy it. Men and women both young and old of African, Native American, Indian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic or typical middle American descent, when hearing the music of Spiritchaser, expressed a deep and longing interest to find out who this amazing band is and where they could buy it. This is the effect that Dead Can Dance produces in its listeners. I have yet to tire of their music on this album or on any other. Neither will you. Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry will go down in the music history books as both innovators and geniuses for bringing back to us the sound of an ancient world presented in a new and exciting light, and for making a darkened modern world a whole lot brighter and pleasant to live in.

"Spiritchaser" is not as bad as some previous reviewers have said, but it's also a far cry from DCD classics like "Aion" or "Within the realm..". On the other hand, it's difficult to compare this album to the group's prior work, since the band decided to ditch all medieval elements and to steer into a fairly obvious world music sound which especially draws from African folk music. The majestic, menacing edge of earlier efforts has been replaced by a laid-back, somewhat artificial feel and overly mannered arrangements. With voodoo percussion, unintelligible vocals, and environmental noises it would be quite o.k. if only the songwriting wasn't in decline. The tracks often have too few ideas for their length. On "Song of the stars", "Indus", and "Song of the Nile", Brendan and Lisa drone on and on for up to ten minutes on a single track. I just find most of the material here largely unfocused and unmemorable. The only interesting tracks for me are the densely percussive "Nierika" and "The snake and the moon" with some catchy guitar lines. People tend to love world music because it sounds unfamiliar to them, but let me tell you, it's all been done before with more passion and drama, particularly by artists from Peter Gabriel's "Real World" label.