Astra - The Weirding Rise Above Records Release date: June 23, 2009
Not quite as out there as label mates Diagonal but still within the same everything-but-the-kitchen-sink musical ballpark, San Diego's Astra delivers on the promise of the title of its debut album. If you think that sentence was a mouthful, well, let's just say I've been influenced by the topic at hand.
Make no mistake, Astra is “fancy outfit” progressive rock, the sort of group that isn't afraid to bring a little theatricality – or a lot, depending on your tolerance – to the table. The Weirding is essentially a collection of grandiose statements, each one doing its damndest to one-up the others. “The Rising of the Black Sun” opens with a jumble of percussion, chimes, flute, and guitar – you half expect to hear a solemn voice go on about mythological woodland creatures preparing for either Harvest Day or some kind of epic battle – before launching into a frantic solo-based jam (think Earthless). Don't get used to that sort of free-for-all playing, though. Starting with the title track, the remainder of The Weirding is a predominantly a series of melancholy, end-of-days numbers that have as much in common with Jethro Tull and 60s folk as they do Yes, King Crimson, and the Book of Revelations.
There's not much of a sense of spontaneity, but the songs are so densely packed and well composed that it doesn't really matter. And when the band does let loose, such as when the guitar takes center stage for a lengthy stretch of unadulterated rock goodness in “The Weirdness,” it keeps Astra from permanently crossing the line into overblown self-indulgence. The exception to this symphonic gloom and doom laser light show is “Broken Glass,” a decidedly English sounding acoustic number that lends credence to the claim that The Weirding is “the missing link between Rubber Soul and Radiohead.” It's a welcome respite before returning to the multi-hued, majestic despair that otherwise defines the album.
Overall, The Weirding's weirdness would've been better served in under an hour. While only four of the eight songs breach the ten minute mark, most of them are exhausting in terms of scope and execution, especially when the synths are the focal point. Don't get me wrong – this is definitely a keeper, but it's also one of those albums where I feel I'll need to take a deep breath before diving into again.
- John Pegoraro
_________________ I'm never gonna work another day in my life
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