PART THE SECOND

Part The Second served as my first real introduction to Maudlin of the Well. I had sampled some earlier albums but never got tempted to go in any deeper. This album will probably change that. The music sounds very original and personal and is only slightly similar to other post-rock and post-metal bands such as Giant Squid and Isis in a laid-back dreamy mood. Toby Driver's vocals add a distinctive Jeff Buckley flavour.

The opening track is the strongest of the album. With a solid melodic song at the base, it develops a beautiful otherworldly mood full of eerie violins, vibes and rich harmonic guitar chords. 5 star material here. The second track starts as a classical intermezzo for chamber orchestra before it turns into a loungey jazz-rock section. Great heavy outbursts with electric guitar and weird vocal experiments add even more adventure before it settles for a dreamy groove in the last minute. There are very appealing parts here but on the whole it leaves a sterile and contrived impression on me.

The classical introduction and the violin solo of Rose Quartz is great. Check out Flairck's composition Variations On A Lady if you like it. After a good 5 minutes, a nice section with vocals starts, I could almost hear Jeff Buckley singing this one in a duet with David Gilmour. Still, it has no relation with what preceded and would have worked better had the idea been developed more to grow into a separate track.

The two closing tracks don't move me much. While making for decent background music, they fail to grab my attention. I guess Clover Garland Island might strongly appeal to Gentle Giant fans, but since I'm not a converted fan (yet?), I feel distanced from its far-fetched structure. The same goes for Laboratories. It sure sounds original, there are wonderful Crimsonian sections, even a notable influence from the Cure in the last 5 minutes, but again it sounds cold and detached.

While Part The Second is a solid and original album, it is not emotive enough to inspire me for more then a 3.5 stars rating. Other critical voices on this page pointed to Kayo Dot for a more satisfying listening experience. Since I can surely hear a lot of potential here, I guess I'll need to further investigate that lead.