Rating: 5/5 stars (and then some!)
Genre: Epic Folk
Review: I’d
liked what I’d seen of Cesair, I’d followed the previews of their album with
excitement, I saw them at Castlefest and loved what I saw but nothing could
have prepared me for actually listening to their album.
It’s
rare that you have a CD that is perfect. Even
among those favourite CDs there’s always one song that’s just not quite right
or there’s some issue with the order of the tracks or the pacing or even the
cover. Perfection is an ideal, not a reality, after all. Of course, the
exception proves the rule and ‘Dies, Nox et Omnia’ is, dare I say it, the
exception.
I
cannot find one thing wrong with this album. I can’t even find one bit that
doesn’t feel quite right and I’ve thought hard about it because, to write about
something and just say “it’s great” isn’t the best way to go about anything.
I
think that the greatest strength of this C.D. is the fact that it works as a
whole as opposed to a bunch of songs put together onto one disk. Going further
than a concept album, it sounds like an opera whereby all the songs base around
the same musical themes for unity yet are individual and unique. That said,
there are extreme contrasts in sound too from lullaby like tunes to chant like
pieces to songs that just make you want to dance. Somehow this album has
managed to contain a diverse range of songs yet remain unified. Not only this
but there are parts, like the introduction to ‘Bergatrollets Friari’, that
might not stand up to criticism if listening to the song on its own but which really
add to the atmosphere and the pacing of the C.D. as a whole.
The
individual songs are stunning in their own right. It’s very difficult to pick
out one or two songs as ‘better’ than the others, and they all have a 5* rating
on my iTunes which drives me mad, but I will attempt to discuss a couple that
particularly stand out to me as I write. ‘Du Som Har’ has a simplicity to it,
musically, yet is hauntingly beautiful. ‘Canso’ the track following it couldn’t
be more different really, being a rhythm driven tune, yet it manages to set off
the preceding number rather than sound out of place. However, I guess, ‘Atiny
Naya’ will forever remain my favourite for so many reasons and, of course,
because it was the first song I heard by this band, a purely personal point,
and because the variations between the sections in this song are stunning. I’m
not even going to try and discuss the power and the beauty of the music as a
whole because to do so would rather undermine it. There are seriously some
things that shouldn’t be said and should just be left to the music.
It’s
also worth commenting upon the album cover itself. For practicality, I tend to
download if given a choice as I abuse my C.D.s terribly (I call it love) and
also simply don’t have enough room. However, this is one disk that I would urge
people to buy physically, although you don’t have a choice right now as I don’t
believe Cesair are offering a download. The cover art is stunning, as is the
booklet. The text contained within the booklet itself also offers insight into
the inspiration for each song even for those of us who might be a bit
linguistically challenged!
I
guess that’s the beauty of this C.D., not only does it contain beautiful music
but no aspect of the experience has been overlooked. I’m sure the musicians
themselves have plenty of pernickety annoyances with aspects because the
creator always notices these faults but, as a listener, it seems that
everything is (dare I say it?) perfect.
To listen to samples of music from the album, and also to buy it click here.
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