TAS Rated 4/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics in the February 2019 Issue of The Absolute Sound!
An Esoteric, Atmospheric, Magical Experience On Vinyl LP!
Since their inception in Melbourne in 1981, Dead Can Dance have been informed by folk traditions from all over Europe, not just solely in terms of instrumentation, but also by secular, religious and spiritual practices. Their 2018 album took shape as Brendan Perry became fascinated by long established spring and harvest festivals that had their origins in Dionysian religious practices throughout Europe. Dionysus brings to the fore the rites and rituals that today continue to be informed by the Greek god. The album's seven movements, in the form of an oratorio, represent different facets of the Dionysus myth and his cult. As with the rest of the Dead Can Dance catalogue, rhythms inspired by world traditions play a key role, with tracks seeming less like songs and more like fragments of a cohesive whole. Perry blends all of the album's elements together using field recordings and chanting, including a goat herd in Switzerland, beehive's from New Zealand, and bird calls from Mexico and Brazil. Perry uses this not only to invoke the album's atmosphere and symbolic references but also to demonstrate how music can be found everywhere. On Dionysus, sounds blend into one another to create an esoteric, atmospheric, at times magical realist experience for the listener.
"The thought-provoking albumwhich is separated into two major acts, then further divided into a total of seven individual movements, all inspired by the titular Greek god of wine and fertilityfeatures co-principal member Brendan Perry playing intriguing stringed and percussion instruments with globe-spanning origins. This rich rhythmic tapestry is combined further with found sounds and droning vocal chants. As a result, Dionysus ends up a mélange of folk and world music for a range of mythological situations, including solemn invocations and religious rites, theatrical revelry, and verdant celebrations. Co-principal member Lisa Gerrard doesn't sing often, although when she and Perry join forces on 'Act II The Mountain,' a song bolstered by a Bulgarian bagpipe called the gaida, their intertwined vocal wails conjure steely, regal majesty." - AV Club
"Dionysus is thoughtful in its construction, unfurling in a dreamy fantasia that is imaginative, colorful and intriguing. It fits perfectly into the continuum of DCD's entire career... Like DCD's other works, Dionysus takes travelers on a nocturnal pilgrimage through uncharted places of worship made of sound, which are at the same time strange and oddly familiar. As such, this album is a soundtrack for the spirit." - All About Jazz
"The album features a passionate primitivism and a rich tapestry of sounds that blend together acoustic instruments and the vocals of Perry and Gerrard with samples and electronic keyboards. You don't need to wear black lipstick to like this record...So frenzied and ecstatic Dionysus would celebrate its existence, the highlight of the album, "Dance of the Bacchantes", confirms that DCD remains as vital as ever." - Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound, February 2019
Features:
• Vinyl LP
• Gatefold jacket
• Made in the EU
Selections:
Act I:
1. Sea Borne
2. Liberator Of Minds
3. Dance Of The Bacchantes
Act II:
1. The Mountain
2. The Invocation
3. The Forest
4. Psychopomp
An Esoteric, Atmospheric, Magical Experience On Vinyl LP!
Since their inception in Melbourne in 1981, Dead Can Dance have been informed by folk traditions from all over Europe, not just solely in terms of instrumentation, but also by secular, religious and spiritual practices. Their 2018 album took shape as Brendan Perry became fascinated by long established spring and harvest festivals that had their origins in Dionysian religious practices throughout Europe. Dionysus brings to the fore the rites and rituals that today continue to be informed by the Greek god. The album's seven movements, in the form of an oratorio, represent different facets of the Dionysus myth and his cult. As with the rest of the Dead Can Dance catalogue, rhythms inspired by world traditions play a key role, with tracks seeming less like songs and more like fragments of a cohesive whole. Perry blends all of the album's elements together using field recordings and chanting, including a goat herd in Switzerland, beehive's from New Zealand, and bird calls from Mexico and Brazil. Perry uses this not only to invoke the album's atmosphere and symbolic references but also to demonstrate how music can be found everywhere. On Dionysus, sounds blend into one another to create an esoteric, atmospheric, at times magical realist experience for the listener.
"The thought-provoking albumwhich is separated into two major acts, then further divided into a total of seven individual movements, all inspired by the titular Greek god of wine and fertilityfeatures co-principal member Brendan Perry playing intriguing stringed and percussion instruments with globe-spanning origins. This rich rhythmic tapestry is combined further with found sounds and droning vocal chants. As a result, Dionysus ends up a mélange of folk and world music for a range of mythological situations, including solemn invocations and religious rites, theatrical revelry, and verdant celebrations. Co-principal member Lisa Gerrard doesn't sing often, although when she and Perry join forces on 'Act II The Mountain,' a song bolstered by a Bulgarian bagpipe called the gaida, their intertwined vocal wails conjure steely, regal majesty." - AV Club
"Dionysus is thoughtful in its construction, unfurling in a dreamy fantasia that is imaginative, colorful and intriguing. It fits perfectly into the continuum of DCD's entire career... Like DCD's other works, Dionysus takes travelers on a nocturnal pilgrimage through uncharted places of worship made of sound, which are at the same time strange and oddly familiar. As such, this album is a soundtrack for the spirit." - All About Jazz
"The album features a passionate primitivism and a rich tapestry of sounds that blend together acoustic instruments and the vocals of Perry and Gerrard with samples and electronic keyboards. You don't need to wear black lipstick to like this record...So frenzied and ecstatic Dionysus would celebrate its existence, the highlight of the album, "Dance of the Bacchantes", confirms that DCD remains as vital as ever." - Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound, February 2019
Features:
• Vinyl LP
• Gatefold jacket
• Made in the EU
Selections:
Act I:
1. Sea Borne
2. Liberator Of Minds
3. Dance Of The Bacchantes
Act II:
1. The Mountain
2. The Invocation
3. The Forest
4. Psychopomp
