ANASTASIS

A good return to form after 16 years, considering their two crumby 'World Music' albums from the mid 90's.. This hits all the right marks but is without the all encompassing darkness of 'Within the Realm...'

'Anastasis' sounds Turkish with spatterings of Western Gothic thrown in throughout. Maybe this is the problem... It's almost like they're trying so hard to emulate the sound of yesteryear but end up being a mish-mash of both.

Brendan Perry sounds über cool with his almost drunk-like singing during the opener 'Children of the Sun'. He has that 'Frank Sinatra, Scott Walker' crooning thing going on after drinking half a bottle of whisky, that I'm more than happy to listen to all day.

I have to admit that I find Brendan Perry's booming vocals more appealing than Lisa Gerrard's throughout this album, where he's accompanied by strings, French Horns and keyboards and lends a definite gravitas to proceedings.

Lisa Gerrard sounds like she always does. She may have a poweful and original voice - but sings like she's playing it by numbers here.

Fans of 'Darkwave' music will no doubt love this. Spellbinding tingly production in the '4AD' style, garnered together with gravelly vocals from Brendan Perry and deep bass make this an applaudable return to form. It's just a a pity it doesn't have that 'Nuclear armageddon gloominess' of 'Within the Realm' or 'The Serpent's Egg' feel going on. Still, it's probably their best album since then.

'Anastasis' (which is Greek for 'Resurrection) is a bit shapeless in the greater scheme of things. It begins and go's on in a similar vein throughout. Thankfully the mighty Brendan Perry rescues the day with his hugely reverbed baritone crooning which harks back to Dead Can Dance's good old days from '85-'86.