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Reviews

Thinking Plague — A History of Madness
(Cuneiform Rune 180, 2003, CD)

A History of Madness Cover art

Most music critics (and listeners too) tend to get caught up in the genre game when describing music. We think in terms of qualities like loud/soft, electric/acoustic, rocks/doesn’t. But there are other ways of describing music that are equally valid, though they may require a shift in thought patterns. The dichotomy I’m thinking of (that was brought to mind by listening to Thinking Plague) is hard to describe, but could be likened to the difference between a photograph and a moving picture. Most music based on popular forms (as opposed to academic) is like a photo in that it describes a single situation, presents a particular place, sometimes covering it from multiple angles (for example in the verse and chorus), but remaining on a set topic. A movie, on the other hand, usually presents a journey of some kind. There may be themes running through it, but where you end up is not where you started. Thinking Plague’s music is like that. The album is a journey from start to end, and you never pass by the same scene twice. Parts of it are manic and dissonant, as if you’re passing through a busy city; other parts are quiet and contemplative – a forest with a running stream. The journey is not always exciting – but what real journey is? You have to slow yourself down and listen carefully while you’ve got the chance, because a life without rest is exhausting, and something new is coming just around the bend.

by Jon Davis, Published 2003-12-01

Thinking Plague seems well equipped to tackle an album with this title. They create a mad sort of progressive rock that some might call RIO, though I’m sure Mike Johnson and company would prefer to avoid labels. Still, labels serve a purpose and RIO is certainly the closest one to apply here. Track one, “Blown Apart,” picks up where 2001’s In Extremis, left off; it’s a visceral and muscular display of angular and atonal prog rock that jumps lithely from brutal aggressiveness (due largely to David Willey’s bass and David Shamrock’s drums) to sublime melodicism. It serves as a model for much of the album’s band tracks, though overall this one varies the material even more than In Extremis. For example, track 2, “Consolamentum,” delves into a Stockhausen-inspired arrangement that pairs Deborah Perry’s broadly sketched vocals to harmonium and brass. A more acoustic approach is given to the folky “Gúdamy Le Máyagot” and the chamber-prog of “Lux Lucet.” Then there’s Mark Harris’ “Least Aether for Saxophone,” essentially a solo sax work that morphs into the instrumental “Le Gouffre,” comprising entirely multitudes of tones and sounds that lack any conventional notion of form or musicality. Lyrically the album offers some biting observations on the world today, though these are nicely balanced with the wistful poetry of “Rapture of the Deep” and “The Underground Stream.” The sum total is a vision of a turbulent and unsettled time and place, though intelligent and piercingly insightful. Recommended.

by Paul Hightower, Published 2003-12-01

Guitarist Mike Johnson is now the indisputable ruler of Thinking Plague as the group wades through its first album since 1999’s exceptional CD In Extremis. Within this bleak melodic foray, this incarnation of the band is perhaps the most balanced of any. Hamster Theater’s Dave Willey occupies the bassist role and does a creditable job at anchoring the insane timekeeping so to speak. With this set of twelve pieces, the group falls further under the dark umbrella of Present and Univers Zero as the arranged chaos becomes a familiar pattern of tension and release. However, it’s Deborah Perry’s lead vocal that is a constant in the band as her pleasant delivery provides a point of light through the abyss. Daniel Denis and Dagmar Krause would both be proud of the influence they have wrought upon “Consolamentum” that features Perry’s semi-spoken words in a modern dirge enhanced by Johnson’s brilliant hammer-on and backwards guitar parts. Johnson and Willey have also dug deeper into mainland European roots with the gypsy-like “Gúdamy Le Máyagot” showcasing accordion and violin in an intricate limelight. New members include Mark McCoin (who recently contributed to works by cousin bands 5uu’s) who creates a sound mat for the band not unlike many of the disturbing backdrops done by Biota. Overall Johnson and crowd can be proud of pushing the envelope yet again to its nth degree.

by Jeff Melton, Published 2003-12-01

Filed under: New releases, Issue 28, 2003 releases

Related artist(s): David Shamrock, Dave Kerman, Dave Willey, Thinking Plague

 

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