Soul Cages
Moon
Soundcage Music
2013
This world is seriously messed up. It’s a sad state of affairs. I remember listening to the Soul Cages back in the mid-90s and cannot helping but to be mesmerized by their amazing music – music that was melancholic, technical, yet thoughtful, intelligent and challenging both in its structures and its lyrical content. Fast forward to today and never mind an absence from the scene for more than an entire decade – god knows for what reasons – but I doubt, by their own choice and Soul Cages seem to have made it back, but this time on their own, since no company wanted to sign them, citing their material to be to “difficult”...
Beautiful... just beautiful. While everyone, will suck on the worst Dream Theater album in years, just because of the logo that adorns it while they remain oblivious about excellent albums like Thought Chamber’s “Psykerion” and so on, so “Moon” is even more condemned to “oblivion” without the promotional force of a company behind it.
Onto the matter’s that matter however, the “Cages” have not really changed all that much, through the years, but appear to be “hungry” and re-energized again. The production, attributed to them, is anything but bad, although the mix, which is clear and discreet, could have been a bit more “together”/compact.
“Always Meet Twice” is a very typical “Cagey” song, with melancholic overtones, that exactly underlines how it feels to “be back”... An Ideal opener with fantastic solos. So good to have these cool people, back...
“Darkness” is a far more hard hitting number with a quite claustrophobic atmosphere. While the band’s “technical” ability goes without saying, the thing is they don’t overplay at all, allowing the songs to develop freely, following their instincts, creating a very original “result”, which sounds unlike any other band you’ve heard, with a sounds that’s immediately identifiable. Of course they have influences, but they’re so accumulated, that they do no protrude.
“The Moon” itself, rises majestically all seeing and all enveloping... with its sultry rhythms and crazy syncopated rhythms, that follow the phases, sometimes full and sometimes elliptical, describing all below the majesty of its reflected rays.
“The Curse” is a more daring yet colder arrangement and it seems to be talking all about cancer all in an allegorical way. You have to give it to the band for having the ability to tackle such difficult and sometimes, personal themes in such a poetic way. (Many of us have been affected either having lost loved ones, or some, even being cancer survivors)
“Tomorrow” is I suppose a bittersweet song about, leaving for tomorrow, what you could do today, because you don’t have the gall to go and do it today. Something to regret... deeply over and again.
“Waiting” plays on a theme from earlier, but with deeper hues of blue, being deeply personal and beautiful...
Ah speaking of which “Beautiful” is just what is says on the tin. Its words might be a little “flimsy” but it’s honest and that matters the most.
Finally, “Point One” is a cool instrumental that closes the album, with the band firing on all six, even though they’re a quintet – well they can always do one of those “irrational” mixed time signatures I guess! The weirdest thing is it’s an instrumental that seems to have lyrics on the booklet! So maybe originally it wasn’t meant to be, but it turned out to sound better this way?! Who knows?!
All in all, it’s another artistic triumph for these awesome little bunches of crazy Germans, that seem to be too big, for any company to handle. Well. This is ART!!! The rest is bollocks.
Beautiful... just beautiful. While everyone, will suck on the worst Dream Theater album in years, just because of the logo that adorns it while they remain oblivious about excellent albums like Thought Chamber’s “Psykerion” and so on, so “Moon” is even more condemned to “oblivion” without the promotional force of a company behind it.
Onto the matter’s that matter however, the “Cages” have not really changed all that much, through the years, but appear to be “hungry” and re-energized again. The production, attributed to them, is anything but bad, although the mix, which is clear and discreet, could have been a bit more “together”/compact.
“Always Meet Twice” is a very typical “Cagey” song, with melancholic overtones, that exactly underlines how it feels to “be back”... An Ideal opener with fantastic solos. So good to have these cool people, back...
“Darkness” is a far more hard hitting number with a quite claustrophobic atmosphere. While the band’s “technical” ability goes without saying, the thing is they don’t overplay at all, allowing the songs to develop freely, following their instincts, creating a very original “result”, which sounds unlike any other band you’ve heard, with a sounds that’s immediately identifiable. Of course they have influences, but they’re so accumulated, that they do no protrude.
“The Moon” itself, rises majestically all seeing and all enveloping... with its sultry rhythms and crazy syncopated rhythms, that follow the phases, sometimes full and sometimes elliptical, describing all below the majesty of its reflected rays.
“The Curse” is a more daring yet colder arrangement and it seems to be talking all about cancer all in an allegorical way. You have to give it to the band for having the ability to tackle such difficult and sometimes, personal themes in such a poetic way. (Many of us have been affected either having lost loved ones, or some, even being cancer survivors)
“Tomorrow” is I suppose a bittersweet song about, leaving for tomorrow, what you could do today, because you don’t have the gall to go and do it today. Something to regret... deeply over and again.
“Waiting” plays on a theme from earlier, but with deeper hues of blue, being deeply personal and beautiful...
Ah speaking of which “Beautiful” is just what is says on the tin. Its words might be a little “flimsy” but it’s honest and that matters the most.
Finally, “Point One” is a cool instrumental that closes the album, with the band firing on all six, even though they’re a quintet – well they can always do one of those “irrational” mixed time signatures I guess! The weirdest thing is it’s an instrumental that seems to have lyrics on the booklet! So maybe originally it wasn’t meant to be, but it turned out to sound better this way?! Who knows?!
All in all, it’s another artistic triumph for these awesome little bunches of crazy Germans, that seem to be too big, for any company to handle. Well. This is ART!!! The rest is bollocks.