Alpha-Conjuring with Scribes of Fire
One of the first bands to hit me up on the newfangled The Obelisk Myspace page, non-hipster Brooklyn (who knew such a thing was still possible?) four-piece Scribes of Fire follow a host of unusual patterns on their first full-length offering, curiously dubbed Zauberer. The word refers to the pre-Christian Baltic tradition of clan leaders thought to be imbued with magical powers — sort of like alpha-wizards, which, if these guys were just a nugget more stoner rock, is what they would have called the record — and what it has to do with any of the music, I’m not entirely sure, but it sounds cool and so far as I know there aren’t 50 albums with the title. Doubt I could say the same for Alpha Wizard.
A five-track full-length with the shortest song being middle cut “Distance,” clocking in at 6:39, and the rest either eight minutes or over, before the disc is played your mind immediately flashes the word “doom,” but actually, the Scribes traffic in a highly progressive form of riff-metal drawing influence as much from Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater as it does Dixie Witch. Tossing around “prog” is a very chic thing to do in underground metal these days — bands seem to be using it more and more as a means of saying they’re not morons — but if there’s prog stoner out there, this is it.
Typically one would think of Mastodon as the forebears of this style of music, and Zauberer does have some similar scale-play in the guitars on “We Can Build You” and groovy finale “Demon Dust,” but the difference is in vocalist Ben Abelson, whose diverse range of styles — from clean singing to power metal wailing to some high-pitched acrobatics and black metal cackles for good measure — and free delivery strikes like a more metallic version of Mike Patton‘s later work with Faith No More. Trouble is, there’s too much of it.
The issue isn’t one of recording or performance at all for either Abelson, guitarist Phil Salvagione, bassist Adam Castro or drummer Dan Kurfirst. The interplay of the three instrumentalists on the salsa/jazz-fusion verse work of “Distance,” before the grunge buildup comes in at 2:30 or so, provides definitive proof they’ve got their shit together, and with multiple stylistic jumps as early as five minutes into opener “Ship of Fools” (and that killer part with the acoustic guitar that comes in at 7:03) there’s no doubt Salvagione, Castro and Kurfirst are a tight unit that make Scribes of Fire stand out among the the crowded unsigned scene.
It’s a mixing problem. You see that picture down below and how Abelson is up front and the other three are standing behind? The album is the same way.
Abelson‘s voice, presented here on key in multiple layers, with and without harmonics and effectively conveying a variety of moods, is simply too high in the mix. The excellent guitar work is lost underneath it, and as the solo that begins at 5:38 into “Pink Lagoon” shows, this is guitar worth hearing, but even as the next section kicks back in, it’s like it goes back to hide out while Abelson‘s vocals carry the song. And Abelson‘s an impressive vocalist, absolutely (maybe some of the wackiness could be toned down in the future, but I’m not about to rag on a dude for showing energy on his band’s first album), but the quality and depth of these arrangements can easily carry themselves.
The aforementioned “Demon Dust” gleefully hoists Zauberer to its end, sounding like a mystical grey-skied hoe-down as the earth cracks open to the Dimebag-style guitar bombing, and despite the vocal dominance throughout, Scribes of Fire‘s first full-length jaunt is remarkable and rife with strong ideas and a genuinely original sound. I hesitate to say something about all the potential it shows because that would seem to be taking away from what the album already achieves. Front to back it is an individualistic exercise in pushing boundaries.
My advice to the band: Do another mix, mass mail it to record companies and hit the road. If I had a label, I’d sign them immediately, just so when they got huge and ditched me later on I could have the fact that I’d worked with Scribes of Fire as my claim to fame.
