Customer Reviews

Black Heart Procession

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Imagine bats, ships, and a spooky old ghost town, where a lonely few play dark minor-chord piano songs with a musical saw that has the sound of the wind. Imagine that place deep inside your childhood memory where the sun was setting and you were playing by the railroad tracks in the old abandoned railcars and houses from last century. Forgotten organs fill the air with songs about hearts with waltz beats and beating hearts to bring you back to that place that meant so much and will never be forgotten. I don't find this album depressing, as some do. You have to see between the lines, there is so much more beneath the surface of the words. If you have never heard this band before, I recommend to get the albums in order, 1(self-titled), 2 then 3, along with the 3 song recordings. If you know Three Mile Pilot, it is Pall the singer, and Toby the piano/organ player in their new project. Listen to any songs from this album you can find to sample it, but trust me, it will change you, it becomes part of you. This is an album that I will listen to for the rest of my life. It could have come out 100 years ago, or it could come out when I'm in my old age, the songs are timeless. It moves like water, with some songs slow and dreamy, and then the next will have drums and guitar, but without breaking the mood - the tempo will rise enough to catch you and remind you of the fun in that spooky memory where there was just enough light left outside to play. Then as the dark comes, you go inside to sleep, with the last few songs drifting you away into eternity. It's beautiful.

If Nick Cave, Michael Gira and Rasputina came to a four-way stop, Black Heart Procession would probably be the fourth one there. No, I don't know who would drive through first.

The songs take the romance out of despair. Seven tracks have "heart" in the title; maybe the guys didn't have much energy to spend on naming the songs. "1" is like a cooldown from Sixteen Horsepower's "Sackcloth 'N' Ashes."

Instrumentation is minimal, mainly piano and organs. Mario Rubalcaba's drums and the strained vocals of Pall A. Jenkins give "bluewater-blackheart" a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young feel. Jenkins' voice conveys a lot of yearning and fatigue.

"[T]he winter my heart froze" has a spooky, galloping piano intro, then settles into a Roger Waters kind of delerium. Jenkins plays a saw on four tracks, and it sounds like a theremin (that wobbly 50's space-movie effect that sounds like someone playing a saw). Tobias Nathaniel brings a grim beauty to the piano for this song. "square heart" is almost upbeat by comparison. The somber piano and vocals of "stitched to my heart" (C'mon guys - use CAPITALS) have a plaintive power. In keeping with the overall mood, the band members are dressed like preachers in a strychnine church.

"a heart the size of a horse" closes the CD with organs that suggest some hope, like finding light at the end of a tunnel...and realizing that you're looking up from the bottom of the well. This one also has a strong scent of Pink Floyd. Don't play this song while drinking, or you'll have "a liver the size of a Buick."

These songs were laid down in eleven days - a good way to avoid second-guessing and overproduction. "1" is an impressive debut, lulling you halfway to sleep and making you doubt that there's any point in waking up.

This is by far Black Heart Processions most haunting and dark album to date. Like a long funeral procession winding along a skinny little path the music forges. It hammers at your heart with raw emotion and litters the soul with tears of pain. Yet deep within the pain a feeling of dreamlike waves roll through, one after the other until the album climax's and dies. Simply beautiful piano, along with Pall's voice, this truly is a rare and grand combination.

I just can't say enough about this band or get enough of them. As a musician myself, all of my life I've always wanted to join a band locally that played music like this, but I've never found one. The Black Heart Procession is hard to describe in general, but I think the best term is "no boundries musically". "1", their first release, is simply stunning to listen to. Songs like "Stitched to my heart" are beautifully eerie while "Blue water - black heart" and "Release my heart" is absolutely irresistible inventive playful pop. Then, to make it even better, we are blessed with songs like "Heart without a home", which will bring tears to your eyes. I cannot recommend this album or their second album "2" enough. If you don't already have it, purchase it! If you like your music melancholy, haunting, and just overall emotional, then the Black Heart Procession is a band that you must get familiar with. Simply a masterpiece...

a very melancholy and moody album - not exactly gothic rock, but a great album for nursing a depression.

This bare-bones, ramshackle piano-based procession can get a little tedious when a minimalistic nature exposes flimsy underpinnings, but there is enough of a darkened glow, plus at least two genuine haunts, to warrant investigation for the organic-goth set.

I liked this album but didn't really feel it until just now.
Minimalist piano and kind of warbley, honest, lonely vocals.
A very mellow, humane, painfully warm album.

This is a very good album. That being said, it may be hard for some listeners to appreciate on the first listen. Many of the tracks are primarily piano and saw, with no drums, which can be hard to get into initially. I find that this is not the best album to start with if you are interested in the BHP, because it is more of a rough sound, and primarily (as the album art shows) just Pall a. Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel. But it is still a great album. I also enjoy that the album sticks with the concept of hearts and longing to the point where almost every song has "heart" in the title. But a great album for someone who has already gotten in the grove of the band.

This is a very poetic, moody, dreaded, haunting album to listen. It's also a great album to listen to in the dark since Lost Highway soundtrack. The last song in the album is flabbergasting. It expands your mind. A denifate winner. Also check out any Three Mile Pilot albums. The Blackheart Procession and Three Mile Pilot are my idols. Own this album!!!

this band is really bad. they do use somewhat 'obscure' instruments though so i suppose they must be good. a bit better than that three mile pilot thing though. don't remember vocals in ay black heart procession stuff and that three mile pilot singer doesn't really do anything but moan and groan about how sad any lonely life is. all this music is nothing but a widely distributed personal ad by those who just don't get why noone likes them even though they know the names of underground artists and like to cry.