Customer Reviews

Le Serpent Rouge

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

 

 

This is possibly my favorite Arcana album. Arcana has always been known for creating a melancholy, epic neoclassical sound, and is one of the flagship artists of the excellent Cold Meat Industry label. If you found yourself on this page you probably already know that, but the reason i mention it is that this album is very different from all the others. This feel of this album reminds of the middle east, with waves of heat creating ocean mirages across the vast unending dry desert. The imagery is not unlike that of Peter Gabriel's soundtrack for the movie Passion: The Last Temptation Of Christ.

It begins with In Search Of The Divine, one of Arcana's most ambient pieces, sounding like the cry of some ancient forsaken mummy. Very haunting, and one of my favorites from the album. From there the album picks up with the title track, using traditional middle eastern percussion and instrumentation. This tune sets the pace for the rest of the album, which all use similar instrumentation to transport you into the heart of the desert (or your living room home theater setup, whatever :)). Perhaps the biggest fault in the album is how similar the feel is for most of the tunes. I personally don't mind it so much, as often i'll put this on without really devoting my full attention to it, but I still would have liked to see a bit more variety thoughout the album.

One important thing to note is the vast improvement of production on this album! I don't know if it's just my ears or what, but this album sounds so much richer and fuller than most of their stuff, which is sometimes plagued with a bit of an "artificial" sound... On this album, the sounds are very organic and feel much more "alive" when compared with past albums. This is probably the main reason i consider it my favorite Arcana album. Sure, it's not as melodic, and sure, it's maybe they "lost" the epic neoclassical feel they had, but i am VERY glad they took the turn to explore this middle eastern sound. Not that i'd wish them to continue with it herein, but simply because it proves the mind of Peter Bjargo (didn't it used to be Peter Petersson? Did he change his name? I guess i should know my facts a bit better hehe...) is not one dimensional, and he's willing to explore other areas rather than repeat what's already been achieved. Of course, his martial industrial project Sophia very well proves this anyway, but I hadn't expected an album like this from Arcana. Highly reccomended album for those into dark ambient or neoclassical music, and essential for the Arcana fan.

Well, this will be a short review; first of all, this is a very good album: excellent artwork, production and atmosphere. However this stuff is very different compared to their previous works. If you're waiting for a Medieval feeling, you're not going to find it here. Think about Dead Can Dance or Rajna, with their 'indian' touch and their ethnic and haunting sounds. Not original at all, but quite interesting.

The best: perfect for an astral journey.
The worst: very homogeneous.

I had met one of the members of this band on an art site and decided to check it out. It's a very well put together and relaxing complilation. I really wanted an older CD by them but I'm very glad I got this one.
I play it when I'm cleaning, going to bed, driving and more. I'll say this cd is calm, relaxing and dare I say..SEXY!
Enjoy!

I'm a huge fan of Arcana and I own all of their recordings. I was very excited that they'd come out with a new CD. This CD is nothing like any of their previous music. Gone are the kettle drums, church bells, and Gregorian chant-like vocals. This new CD sounds extremely similar to Dead Can Dance. Although I am a Dead Can Dance fan and own all of their recordings as well, I've grown rather bored with their sound and was disappointed to see Arcana emulating a style that's been around for over two decades and is on it's way out, in my humble opinion.

Still, if you've never heard Dead Can Dance before and aren't burned out on the whole middle-eastern, belly dance, street bazaar, ambient thing, then this may be just the CD for you. In typical Arcana style, it is well produced and is filled with great musical imagery.