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Major Parkinson - Twilight Cinema CD (album) cover

TWILIGHT CINEMA

Major Parkinson

 

Eclectic Prog

4.01 | 224 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Second Life Syndrome
Prog Reviewer
5 stars Every once in a while, you hear something completely new. I believe that Major Parkinson's new album "Twilight Cinema" is just that. This is my first experience with this band, though I'd often hear their name. This album, whether it be a good or bad example of their style, sounds so different and so bizarre that I can't help but feel the fresh breeze it creates.

I call this album "bizarre" with the utmost respect and the best intentions. "Twilight Cinema" is creepy, eerie, surreal, playful, dark, and somehow oddly happy, too. The album is markedly diverse from track to track, with everything from carnival music to electronic to neo- prog. In fact, this album has a subtle carnival tone throughout, if I'm being honest. It certainly adds to the strange ambiance and the madness found therein. Leading the craziness is Jon Ivar Kollbotn on vocals. He, joined by a couple female guests on a few tracks, is the perfect complement to this music, as he sings with a low, almost devious tone. It's almost as if he's hiding something from us---with a smile, of course.

The music itself is delightful. The bass guitar is active and dark, guitars are creative and varied, and the drums are clever and well-played. Most of all, though, I enjoyed the keys. The synth is often upbeat, and, thus, contrasted against the dark soundscapes. There are a plethora of sounds created by the keys, though; and this makes the album extremely varied. This album almost feels like it belongs in a Tim Burton movie, or, more praiseworthy, a Lewis Carroll story.

From the weirdly uplifting "Skeleton Sangria" to the dark "Black River" to the creepy "A Cabin in the Sky", this album is full of memorable and truly interesting songs. "Beaks of Benevola" and the title track are also stand-outs, and range from forcefully surreal to truly strange. The title track in particular is brilliantly composed, and also completely macabre. I can't express how much I love this delightfully disturbing album, stitched together with peculiar melodies and a ghastly story.

Frightening and artfully crafty, "Twilight Cinema" is a fantastic album that I expect to fall more in love with as the year progresses. It has a charm and a depth that will bring me back continually, and that will easily become nostalgic for me. It's gothic, but humorous: spectral, yet organically folksy. It's truly original music that deserves to be heard.

Second Life Syndrome | 5/5 |

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