Ark, Brandon Perry.

Brandon Perry is the lead vocalist for the cult group named Dead Can Dance. I've not heard any of the Dead Can Dance tunes yet, but if Brandon Perry's solo work is any indication of their artistic quality, then we're in for interesting times indeed!

I say interesting because I can't really put a finger to classify any particular genre this music belongs to, but rather, there's Mood Music, Electronica, New Age, Gregorian like chants and many other facets all roll in to a fusion of explosive sound.

The CD starts of with a mysterious and moody sounding Babylon, followed by the special effects filled The Bogus Man. My favorite tracks are Utopia and The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea. There's also an interesting Jazz tinged New Age fusion track called This Boy. Brandon's singing style is largely monotonic and very slumber like, in contrast to the synthesiser generated bass heavy beat rhythm, punctuated by scores of electronica effects and pompous "Fanfare To The Common Man" like horn(quite possibly electronically generated too!) backing.

I strongly suspect that with the right kind of accompanying substance to aid and elevate one's senses, I believe this is the kind of music that one can let fly, with tales of floating bed/sofa, counter spinning ceilings, dimming lights, stars and perhaps, just perhaps, visits by angels or demons too. Not that I am promoting any kind of unhealthy activity in hifi-dom.

However, I did find long listening sessions of this 8 track CD to be musically monotonous somewhat.

The recording has crystalline quality, highly evident multi tracking, and heavy use of additional reverb to re-create the sense of spaciousness. My good buddy Jo, likes to use the Babylon track to show case his system's finely tuned bass control and tactile quality.

It's an adventure, if you seek to explore new music.