Tracks:
- Earthe
- Air
- Fyre
- Water
- Quintessence
The fifth full-length album of The Soil Bleeds Black, appropriately titled, Quintessence, exemplifies an aura of gothic and medieval folk songs portraying the magical elements of earthe, air, fyre, water, and spirit. Lush acoustic harmonies melt with graceful flutes while heavenly female and male voices congregate to reveal a profound impression of the planetary substances. Quintessence utilizes simple and complex arrangements to capture the Dark Ages in a unique contemporary fashion. Following the path of their fourth album, Alchemie, The Soil Bleeds Black employ an array of traditional instruments while embarking on a more sombre path to create an atmosphere of beauty, grace, and melancholy.
"Representing the fifth album, it seems the Riddick brothers have further re-evaluated and refined their approach of neo-medieval folk music, which, to my ear, is their strongest recorded work to date. Shunning the shorter pieces and soundscape interludes, these tracks embody a much longer length and are predominantly built around darkened acoustic guitar ballads. Likewise, the actual vibe of this CD is much more flowing, morose, and melancholic, with less emphasis on the whimsical, yet ridged, minstrel-type atmospheres of prior recordings. The male vocals have gone through a slight stylistic change, where rather than presenting caricatures, here they are simply cleanly sung (and as always, complimented with the vocals of Eugenia Houston). Basing the album around five tracks (Œearthe‚, Œair‚, Œfyre‚, Œwater‚ & Œquintessence‚) the first track, a brooding piece of acoustic guitar sentimentalities, is embellished with various percussive elements, woodwind instruments, and even a trumpet. The darker acoustic folk tangent of Œair‚ uses Eugenia‚s voice as the vocal lead whilst glockenspiel, recorder, stately drums, church bells, and trumpet all add to the foreboding atmosphere. The cyclic and repetitive guitar strumming of Œfyre‚ brings to mind selected tracks of Ordo (Rosarius) Equilibrio, yet the embellishing of woodwind instruments, percussion, and marching beats create a fantastic and individualistic celebratory flavour ˆ both female and male vocals presented in unison. With a minimalist ambient introduction, Œwater‚ falls back into morose acoustic musing territory, that is both subdued and epic. Again elements of drum and wood percussion, synth layers, recorders, and whistles make up the backing, providing the basis for dual male-female vocals that are used as both backing and lead (ranging from soaring to chanting). The final track, Œquintessence,‚ again embodies the morose acoustic guitar style yet traverses a 15 minute length. With the percussion presenting heavy slow pounding beats and multi-layered woodwind instruments, it presents the prefect basis for Eugenia‚s vocals, with the lyrics being an ode to the four elements referenced in the first four tracks. After the five minute mark, the track falls away into a rather engaging dark ambient soundscape, presenting an impression of being lost in a dark woodland during the middle ages, that later makes way for a hidden track. This last instrumental piece is yet another fantastic acoustic guitar track that sees the guitar multi-layered along with percussion, woodwind tunes, dulcimer, and even a stunning trumpet interlude. This album is easily the pinnacle of what TSBB have recorded to date and now sees the group further aligning themselves with the current neo-folk movement where particular comparison to the like of Atataxia can be made. ŒQuintessence‚ will certainly not disappoint established fans of the group, but it is also an opportunity for those who might not have been totally enamoured with previous albums to rediscover the group via the gem that is this album." - Review by Richard, Spectrum Magazine #5 (Australia)