Have you ever been to Barcelona? Never? It’s marvellous! I spent two months there in summer last year and didn’t come back as the same person. There is a simply tremedously strong vibe in that city. Every brick making up the core of the catalunyan capital breathes inspiration. There is a force reverbing from the (beautiful!!!) buildings that will make you become one with who you are. That force is created by the amazingly high numbered variety of people you encounter here. Whatever flips your switch, whatever it is that floats your boat, you can live it out full blast here and unlike in other european cities (*cough MUNICH cough*) you won’t be given any sort of bad looks because given the amount of truly unique individuals that you see yourself confronted with in Barcelona (guy always walking around naked in the city, or a seemingly mentally disturbed opera singer at the subway station of Passeig de Gracia who only brings out one tone) it is unlikely you’ll bring something shocking to the table.
While most peoples call in being themselves lies in a frenzic quest for constant narcotic anesthesia on Las Ramblas or on Barceloneta (speaking of the tourists of course), others will absorb the creative energies flowing from the top of Gaudis (and others’) architectural masterpieces and channel them into unique pieces of art in which we can reflect our own selves, challenge our mindsets and tie an intellectual and emotional bond from which we can draw energy in the times of need.
Red Shift is exactly that. A mind expanding journey of epic scale! The tricky thing is to find out whether that journey is one to the borders of our cosmos and therefore of “touristic” nature or a journey through the vastness of your own thoughts.
Whichever option you go for, this album is your passenger ticket. It seems to me sometimes that a creature consisting of epic, grandeur and an overdose of psychedlic drugs walked into a studio and just recorded itself for 58 minutes, sitting there, feeding the recording devices with very tight straight doublebass thunders and kickdrumcombos that will lead an army of guitars and synthesizers into battle against your conception of black metal and reduce it to dust. And just when you think you can resist to burst out in speeches of appraisal the calm to frenzic piano melodies, the virtuose and mind elevating guitar solos and the awe inspiring chants of Asgaroths mainman Christopher will make all resistance cease!
This is not an avantgarde-metal album in the traditional sense of the term but it is an atmospherical masterpiece which will lead your musical souls to before unkown heights to look upon a truly amazing musical panorama.
Note: I highly advise you to go to the bands myspace page. They are split up now but uploaded two demos of what the fans could have expected from future releases…
-David
VITALS:
Release: 2002
Label: Peaceville Records
Avantgenre: Ticket To A Mind Involving Cosmic Trip
Duration: 58 Minutes
Origin: Spain
Official site: http://www.myspace.com/asgaroth
Review online since: 23.01.2008 / 21:19:58
| TRACKLIST:
01 – Naked Eyes |
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