The Black Heart Procession - The Spell (Touch & Go)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
What came first - the incredibly morose, orchestral stodge of the music or the christening of its creators that fits it like a glove? Regardless, it works perfectly - listening to 'The Spell' feels like following a hearse down the Mall at the death of a royal, yet paying more attention to the sound of the mourners wailing and weeping than to where it is you're going, or for whom it is you're supposed to grieve. It starts slowly, laboriously even, and doesn't let up. Its vital organs pump sewage. And there is very little chance of getting off halfway along the journey.
The apt titling ends not with merely the name of the band, either - 'The Spell' being cast rather a strong one, describable in few other terms. It's subtle, but not sheepish about its strong points - if the opening pair of 'Tangled' and the title track actually had any real pace to them one would be tempted to describe them as opening dual punches, as it is, their hugely atmospheric swathes of textured piano and drawn out strings offer up initial curios interesting enough to ensure just by themselves that attention shan't slip throughout the rest of the record, in case something resembling that initial, murky quality rears it's head again. That's 'The Spell' in question, the potion you're under for an hour or so.
After effects? Dizziness, a mild queasy feeling, a desire to press repeat and accustom yourself more with the rest of the record. By doing so, you uncover aspects not so initially grabbing but nonetheless worthy, the near pop sensibility of 'Not Just Words' for example clearing the air refreshingly after the initial impact of 'The Spell' has set in on the head. It seems this is a tactic arriving every now and again to stop the mist from settling so much that darkness can't be seen for the absence of light, a corking, revitalizing melody occasionally peeking up from amidst the smog of the rest of the sound - 'GPS' doing just that in their first real attempt at something resembling a riff all album long, 'Places' aping the Bad Seeds at their most richly, threateningly melodic.
But it's the darkness from which their name was plucked and where most of their sound remains. Also, it houses their periods of greatest success (add the haunting 'Return To Burn' to those two first highlights and you've got yourself quite the shadowy trilogy of great BHP songs). It's a one mood record, truth be told, and as such can never claim to encompass all a human being possessing any emotion other than misery could desire from a stint with an album. But in its wallowing amidst the gloomier caverns of the psyche, few people are as fittingly entitled, nor as successful in their quest, as The Black Heart Procession.
Artists in this article: The Black Heart Procession
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