https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Bone Parade’s Lake Effect Drone

Yes, this is my scan, and yes, that is why it sucks.Originally released on cassette by Scotch Tapes and bearing a title which when translated from the German is revealed to be Full Moon Songs, Albany, NY, husband and wife duo Bone Parade?s Vollmondlieder (issued on CD through their own Wind and Fog Records) is the kind of ambient darkness that makes your flesh feel like chewed meat. Somehow it?s fitting; I hear a song like opener ?Mandragora,? am enveloped in the esoteric drone and operatic vocals, and finally the unbridled noise, and can?t get the words ?lake effect snow? out of my mind. It must be freezing up there by now.

There are four tracks on the CD version I received, though five listed on the back of the hand-made, hand-sewn sleeve (and you?d be amazed at the effect a few dangling threads can really have on making what?s otherwise a common form really stick out), and the obvious reference point is SunnO))), but with the already mentioned operatic tendencies of Erica Sparrow, an entirely different atmosphere is brought to the fore. On ?Death and the Maiden,? as Kevin Johnston provides washes of noise behind, Sparrow recites a spoken word that culminates with the repeated line, ?The moon is hungry,? and listening to Vollmondlieder, I?m afraid it just might come and eat me. Jarboe at her best can evoke a similar discomfort, and Diamanda Galas presents a likewise feeling of drama and musical consequence.

As you can see, ample floor space.A churning industrial influence shows up on the shorter ?Selenite,? but it?s important to note that even with ?Death and the Maiden,? its longest track at 6:52, Vollmondlieder never stands still enough to get boring. Bone Parade, Sparrow and Johnston, keep moving, so that the EP is over in about 20 minutes and yet in listening you feel completely immersed in it. I?ve always felt that one way to judge an album is by your primary emotions when it stops playing, what you think of in that first few seconds of silence. When ?Veneration,? with its vocal tradeoff between Johnston and Sparrow playing out like a more oppressive Crippled Black Phoenix meets Ingmar Bergman, is done, I?m still feeling cold. Lake effect snow.

That consistency of mood — maintained despite the duo?s ability to work in any number of disparate influences fluidly — is commendable. The ringing tones of ?Veneration? hanging in the air like sustained bells, Bone Parade?s potential is capitalized on with Sparrow?s final high note and a closing word from Johnston. The CD version of Vollmondlieder is limited to 200, and once you see it you?ll understand the work that went into making it and know why, but it?s definitely worth investigation for those wishing to give themselves a sudden chill. Recommended for sure, and looking forward to hearing what they do next.

Bone Parade on MySpace

Tags: , ,

Leave a Reply