'Half Life'
The mega-collective
mind that is The Eden House returns with the long-awaited sophomore
album 'Half Life', the follow up to 2009's impressive début
long-player 'Smoke And Mirrors'. The band blends a diverse palette of styles
and influences that encompass gothic, progressive, trip-hop and roots
music into dark psychedelic rock which has set The Eden House apart
from the crowd very quickly. And with a range of well-received albums
and EPs to the band's name already, the bar is already set very high
for their second album.
Once again the core of
the band, comprised of Stephen
Carey, Tony Pettitt and Andy Jackson
is joined by a variety of vocalists including
Lee Douglas (Anathema) and Monica Richards (Faith And The Muse) as
well as guest musicians, such as Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) and
Simon Hinkler (The Mission). All of who give the band a uniquely
wide-ranging appeal and talents to really push the boundaries of what
rock music can be.
The album opens with
the lead single ‘Bad
Men’, a trip-hop heavy mixture of driving guitars, grooving bass
and subtly hypnotic feminine vocals which shows the band at their
commercial best. Across songs such as 'Indifference', 'The Empty
Space', 'City Of Goodbyes' and 'First Light' the band bring together
the mystical elements of The Fields Of The Nephilim, the
introspection of Pink Floyd and the avant garde bleakness of
Portishead into a strangely uplifting formula. While the likes of
'Wasted On Me' and 'The Tempest' give the album a rawer edge with
their focuses on strong rhythms.
Though it would be nice if the band
delved more into the ambient electronics of the the B-side of the
lead single, 'Survival Instinct' to add a little more
experimentalism to the track list.
As
you would expect from a band with a pedigree such as this, the
production and mix are absolutely faultless. There instruments and
vocals ebb and flow into each other with such ease and grace that the
whole album feels as though it has been painted rather than performed.
The
Eden House's body of work is fast becoming the mark by which to
measure gothic rock. The collective's scope and ambition is high and
they have more than enough talent with which to realise it. The band
do feel somewhat comfortable on 'Half Life' and the album's formula
doesn't really deviate into any truly experimental directions, which
is a shame as they are more than capable. But having said that, the
band's penchant for creating simply sublime music is beyond reproach.
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