Entry 293 - Dead Can Dance - Within the Real of a Dying Sun

 

Oh wow... I've been listening to this album all my life but this is the first time I've put it on my turntable since I did my most recent upgrades to my sound system. There are points where you think you've heard an album in any way possible... then you listen to it again with new equipment and nope... I have not experienced Dead Can Dance like this before.

As soon as Anywhere Out of the World came on I knew that this would be a different experience. The massiveness of this song is on display right away. The song simply commands attention and will settle for no less. Brendan's voice is a perfect accompaniment to the the dark and stirring music provided by the keyboards.

This is the album where the band would fully embrace the darkwave/dark folk sound that would define their sound moving forward. Much of this album is played out on keyboards, but that is not a detriment in the slightest. It's simply a mark of what the band was at this time... another step in their continual evolution.

While the first half of the album focuses on more traditional song structures to accompany Brendan Perry's voice, the second half is toned more towards Lisa's incredible vocals. The album morphs further and further into the dark folk style and further away from traditional song structures as the run time increases. Its a masterful transition from start to finish, something very few bands could accomplish.

Dead Can Dance remain one of my favorite bands from the 80's or really ever. They pioneered so many musical styles in a such a short time and were hugely influential with their early material. Any band that creates dark music within the last 30 years likely owes something to Dead Can Dance and the styles that they pioneered so many years ago.