FEATHERS FOR FLESH

Although this writer has been, aware of Lynette's gang for a while and had two albums that periodically played in his deck, I had never had the time to actually sit down behind my computer while it was spinning. The least we can say is that TRM's musical landscapes are rather unique, mixing a certain idea of Goth (or macabre) music with avant-garde prog rock, which makes them rather unique, despite some obvious influences. Indeed the crazy illustrations (courtesy of the delicious Lynette) on the album's booklet could come out of a Lovecraft book, but they reflect fairly well the oppressing ambiance of this FFF album. Each of the four multi-instrumentalist take on a fictional (or is it?) character name, even if drumming guitarist Vornon kept his moniker.

Opening on the lengthy 4-movement suite House Of Ash, which start hostilities on an electronic Corridors piece, before directing towards a Crimsonian ambiance in Judgment, with extreme Gothic and operatic vocals from the statuesque Lynette. Definitely one of a kind., with only the Icelandic Thursaflokkurin band coming close. The almost-instrumental King's Lament's two parts enhanced the oppressive Crimsonian oppression on your eardrums. The following Passage mixes some post-rock influences (at first) with some acoustic arpeggios and Lynette's more reserved vocal prowess. I must say that the following Yellow Are his Opening Eyes is a little too much for this proghead and repeated listens only worsen the experience and provoke a compression of the FFWD button on my remote control until we reach the crimsonian Outscream movement, filled with trons of mello. Will the delicious Lynette ever forgive me? Excellent third movement, though. The eerie folky medieval piece Beggars & Thieves feature two acoustic guitars arpeggio-ing away over eerie layers with Lynette lyrics being most-straightforward on the present album. The closing Scarlet Experiment returns to spoken-vocals and eerie noises like in the opening movement of Opening Eyes, which is easier to evade by pressing the eject button.

I find it a little too bad that TRM chose to go overboard with their delightful siren's impressive vocal capacities in the last quarter of the album, but otherwise, this is an almost-stunning album. Not far from being TRM's best album, but the vocals bits sort of damage its perfection.

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