BLESSED ARE THE BONDS

The Pax Cecilia is one of this year's great surprises. I stumbled across them in early June when I was searching for a new band to check out. I was reading a review of their latest album, "Blessed Are The Bonds", when I stumbled upon a sentence that quickly caught my attention: "They're giving it for free". I didn't even think twice about it and quickly send them an email requesting the album. It arrived weeks later and what a wonderful album this is. Who would've thought a free album would be this good?!

The Pax Cecilia's music is a combination of many different elements. They seem to have many influences in their music, but when you try to put them in a box labeled with X or Y genre it'll most likely stick out like a sore thumb. The addition of classical instruments like the piano, strings and trombone are given the same attention as the rock instruments and in many cases they are more dominant than the actual rock instrumentation (specially the piano). In other words, they sound like a single entity instead of the classical instruments sounding like an extension of the band. This tactic gives the band a more theatrical sound that fits perfectly with the story telling. (I'm not quite sure what is it about, but it does sound interesting)

The music on this album is focused more in the atmosphere and emotions rather than complexity. Most of the complex moments on this album are well fitted with the band's heavier and aggressive nature which isn't very dominant on this album to begin with. Their sound is divided into two different musical spectrums: delicate and rough. As previously mentioned, the rough and aggressive side of the band isn't very dominant and it's mainly showed in "The Progress" and in "The Machine". The rest of the album is dominated by their delicate side that sounds symphonic, fine and very emotional. The vocalist does a great job adapting its sound to the different atmospheres in the album. The only difference is the last song on the album, "The Hymn" which is more rooted in folk music than anything. There are also songs that fall between the delicate and rough nature of the band and end up being the high points in the album (like "The Tree").

All in all, "Blessed Are The Bonds" is a magnificent album that manages to be unique while not sacrificing the overall quality of the music. The closest band I could think of that's similar to The Pax Cecilia is maudlin of the Well, but there's still a gap between their sounds. If you're looking for a refreshing sound that's punchy as well as delicate while still being emotional then "Blessed Are The Bonds" by The Pax Cecilia is the album for you and it's free so there's nothing to loose. Try it.