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| Karda Estra - The Age Of Science And Enlightenment |
 Released: 2006 Label: Cyclops Cat. No.: CYCL 158 Total Time: 43:29 | |
Reviewed by: Marcelo Silveyra, August 2006 Step in, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the eerie but magnificent world of Karda Estra, where dreams come to life, pictures become reality, and the mysterious John Deth awaits. Feel the lush environs as your fingers pass through a sound so thick you can touch it. Have the marrow of your bones chill as you listen to phantoms from a world in the head of Mr.Wileman. Experience sensations like eroticism, fear, tension, placidness, and many more in ways you thought impossible. Glide from harmony to harmony and feel the tapestries of sound as they slowly caress your senses. Gape at the poignancy and power of the music of The Age Of Science And Enlightenment. Please, do come in already. The exhibits are numerous and our time is short, so you'll have to pardon me if I dispense with certain pleasantries along the way. Exhibit A: the stately formality of the work's eponymous piece, which gives way to disquietingly paranormal passages and ends with a bone-chilling reorchestration of its main theme. Lovely, yes, but also threatening, don't you think? Exhibit B: the ghostly dance of "Nocturne Macabre." Dark velvet, anyone? Exhibit C: "Am I Dreaming You? Are You Dreaming Me?" almost an eighteenth-century precursor to Blade Runner. The movie, kids, not the music. We couldn't quite approximate it to Vangelis with its tense movement, heavy atmospheres, and almost-industrial-electronic-bossa moments, now, could we? Exhibit D, and mind you, we're getting somewhere: "The Red Room," a trip to a harlot in the midst of opium dreaming, perhaps. Or perhaps not. But certainly sensuous and frightening at different times. Ah yes, Exhibit E: the almost-playful but truly unsettling "Bones In The Moonlight." And skeletons in the closet out in the garden, I tell you. Exhibit F: the romantic innocence of "Carmilla" running into devious demons. And we're done here. What? "Talos?" A very pleasing intro with beautiful oboe playing, indeed. What, "Second Star?" Children, stop it. You know that it is prime Karda Estra as we knew it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Karda Estra as we knew it, because our traveling show certainly wouldn't come back to this town if we didn't have something new to offer this time around. No, no life tonic, stop asking already! Instead, we offer better products for your entertainment. First, take a look at Mr.Wileman's guitar playing, which hasn't dared to show its face quite like this until now! Yes, yes, a most welcome addition to our line, and one that contributes definition and quite a lot of character. Two bottles to the gentleman over there. Orchestration that never stops improving, and that's no lie. Yes sir, this one's even better than the already marvelous one on Voivode Dracula. A bottle for your lovely girl. Gorgeous melodies played with plenty o' spirit by violinist Helen Dearnley and oboist Caron Hansford. What? Yes, yes, we had something similar before you, but I assure you, this is the one worth dying for. Fifteen bottles. Done. Before we close shop, however, may I remind you of Ileesha Bailey's otherworldly washes of voice and subtle portamentos? Yes? Two bottles? Got it! Step in, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the eerie but magnificent world of Karda Estra, where dreams come to life, pictures become reality, and the mysterious John Deth awaits. Feel the lush environs as your fingers pass through a sound so thick you can touch it. Have the marrow of your bones chill as you listen to phantoms from a world in the head of Mr.Wileman. Experience sensations like eroticism, fear, tension, placidness, and many more in ways you thought impossible. Glide from harmony to harmony and feel the tapestries of sound as they slowly caress your senses. Gape at the poignancy and power of the music of The Age Of Science And Enlightenment. The possibilities are endless, so do come in and explore. Whatever you do though, don't close the door behind you. You might never come back. Rating: 4.5/5 [See also Duncan's review -ed.] More about The Age Of Science And Enlightenment: Track Listing: Talos (4:25) / Carmilla (4:30) / Am I Dreaming You? Are Dreaming Me? (6:01) / The Age Of Science And Enlightement (4:50) / The Return Of John Deth: / I) The Red Room (5:39) / Ii) Bones In The Moonlight (8:12) / Iii) Nocturne Macabre (2:05) / Second Star (7:25) Musicians: Contact: Website: www.kardaestra.co.uk Discography
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