SPIRITCHASER

Given my penchant for mellow prog, it might surprise you to know that, aurally speaking, I can be distracted to the point of distraction. Sure, once, twice, three times that can be excused, but when I have in all sincerity approached a recording umpteen times with a blank slate and glimpsed the same blank slate in the rear view mirror an odd hour later, I really need to move on.

From "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun" through to "in the Labyrinth", DEAD CAN DANCE set trends at least as much as they followed them, thanks to their willingness to take chances. This entrepreneurial spirit remains intact on "Spiritchaser", but they are now in the realm already occupied by a variety of ambient world music groups who, quite frankly, were a little better at this. I am thinking of DEEP FOREST, BAKA BEYOND, and B-TRIBE, all of whom wed western rock with Aboriginal traditions with varying successes. But the one thing they did do, which seems sadly missing on "Spiritchaser", is produce at least a few stunning pieces on even the most moribund disks. Here I really can't find a highlight, acknowledge though I may that DCD has found a groove and played it well, it just isn't quite deep or heartfelt enough for my needs. THe best I can muster is that "Snake and the Moon" sounds like something JULUKA might have done if for a few minutes they were not quite so politically riled up. Or perhaps like an ok tune by TOURE KUNDA.

Maybe I'm off base but there isn't much to chase after here in the material or the spirit world. Not bad, but easily surpassed by contemporaries.