Verse And Radiation - Along The Celestial Ruins   

Baffling yet oddly captivating

It isn't too often that I come across an album that baffles me and leaves me unable to even really form an opinion about what I'm hearing. Verse And Radiation's Along The Celestial Ruins just happens to be one of those albums that is making my job difficult.

If I were to describe the kind of music Verse And Radiation play, the most obvious genre to choose would be thrash, but that is just the beginning because on top of that there are probably about another half a dozen or so genres and styles that make their presence known at regular and irregular points throughout the album.

Though in a sense Verse And Radiation are a thrash band, they sit more at the prog end of the spectrum by channelling sounds reminiscent of bands like Dillinger Escape Plan and the like with their off kilter and jagged riffs and experimentations. It is an unpredictable mix that is ever changing and shifting which can make the initial couple of listens rather difficult to grasp.

There are a couple of standout tracks, each for their own reasons, such as Shakespearean Powerhouse for its rhythmic power and general catchiness, Killcomplete for its thrashy yet melodic groundings, and Zombies Inherit The Earth for its sense of melody and its tripped out final couple of minutes.

When it comes to the production on Along The Celestial Ruins I can't say that I was particularly blown away. It was neither overly good nor overly bad but was rather simply adequate. It could have used some extra tweaking to give it some added punch and a little more brightness as well.

At the end of it all I'm still not certain what I think about this album. It's paradoxical in that it is simultaneously listenable and un-listenable, enjoyable and unenjoyable, accessible and inaccessible. At the very least it is interesting and for that reason alone it deserves at least a listen just to see what it's all about. I do suspect that over time this will take a place high in my album rotation.

(Acerbic Noise Development)

Added: February 22nd 2008
Reviewer: Michael O'Brien
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