Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Lakes - Blood Of The Grove (2013)


Lakes
Blood Of The Grove
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Avant! Records
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Lakes have a solid career with more than ten years, and 14 releases. This is a project of Sean Bailey; and the music of Lakes can be described as a mixture of Dark Punk and Post Industrial -Neo Folk. We have a very experienced artist with a consolidated musical proposal. The music of lakes is an acoustic kaleidoscope which embraces Punk, Dark Post Punk, Neo folk, and it has sounds and harmonies reminiscent of the ancient traditional music from Europe. This is inspirational, because it has aplomb and captivating harmonies; it has passion and strong spirit. It’s like some sculpture made with steel: It has aesthetic, density, and strength. It’s quite remarkable how Lakes creates those images in your mind, those evocations, and how they appeal to your feelings; and this is made with a really simplistic instrumentation: Acoustic guitars, voice, bass, and martial drums. The song writing and the execution are impressive.

“Blood of the Grove” is a pretty straight forward beginning for this album, and you will appreciate the unique energy and sound that Lakes displays. The voice breaks through the obscure harmonies in “The oldest Place”, leading to some really energetic passages. “Crossed with leaves” has powerful acoustic chords with brilliant transitions; this track has determination and passion. “Night lark” displays a more traditional Neo Folk sound. This one is really melodic and has some nostalgic feel. Dark Punk meets Post Industrial in “Wingless and earthbound” .Is such an impressive track that has lots of attitude and determination, in every chord. “Visitation Dawn” is another big impressive song: It’s Dark Post Punk with acoustic sound and powerful rhythms, they lead us to a climactic moment during the chorus; this one is fascinating.”All the waking dreams” has a mesmerizing sound at the beginning, and displays wonderful transitions.”The Longest reign” is another overwhelming Dark Punk-oriented track; amazing energy here. “Ashes black” is a fine mix of Post Punk and Neo Folk. And “Painted wreath” is a great conclusion for such a remarkable album.

“Blood of the Grove” is a record made with passion, inspiration, and determination. A must have with really unique sound and vision.

Daniel Olvera