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Review Summary: Soft, intriguing, and beautiful. On my journey through Ireland, I picked up quite a number of CDs, which predictably enough were mostly metal albums. What I didn’t count on was finding this marvellous gem of an album, mistakenly tucked neatly between two heavy metal CDs. And what a surprise it was. The Shore That Fears the Sea is a mesh of so many different styles, that I find it hard to even describe what sort of sound they have. It’s most obviously folk, but it’s been transformed into something that’s psychedelic, atmospheric, and hauntingly melodic, all in the same album. The icing on the cake though, is that United Bible Studies is from Ireland; I’ve found it very typical for bands of any genre that come from Ireland to very often incorporate their musical heritage into their own music, which I think is a wonderful thing.
The Shore That Fears the Sea begins with a hypnotic, almost dreamy, atmospheric piece that lulls you into a state of paralysis, ready to be enveloped by the next song. There are a lot of mellow breaks in the music, atmospheric passages that are a mixture of different sounds, instruments and tones, over which sombre and melancholic melodies flow in and out, supporting the mood and feel of the music. For this is most definitely an album of mood and no matter what you are feeling like, you can be sure that United Bible Studies will steady your heartbeat and cool your mind down.
As you continue into the album, the vocals are introduced, which are plain and dull, in a good sense. How I’d ever imagine a boring voice to be good is beyond me, but the soft, straight-faced vocals on the album sit perfectly with the slow tempos and acoustic medleys. An Irish accent pokes itself around, not quite there, but almost. The seventh track (The One True God Lies To Himself While The One True Goddess Sings), is the epitome of why the soft, nearly spoken word, vocals are so great. This isn’t the whole of it however: along with the already mentioned vocal style, moments where the vocals are elevated to Sigur Ros levels really make The Shore That Fears the Sea a journey needed to be undertook by everyone.
The clutter of sounds comes together finally midway through, with Tributaries Of The Styx Under Dublin centring around the climax the album so desperately needed. This then fizzles out, and The Shore That Fears the Sea returns to the snail’s pace it had begun with. The effect of reaching the climax becomes apparent in the final few songs, all of which are strong in mood, and defined in melody. The Irish influence is most apparent starting with Tributaries Of The Styx Under Dublin, and continues on until the end, where we are left with an absolutely beautiful and mesmerising piece, Captain William Coey. This song completes the album. The Shore That Fears the Sea began in an unorganised way, tried to find the melody hidden beneath the weighty atmosphere, made obvious attempts to find it, and eventually succeeded, culminating in a delightful end to an amazing piece of music. Highly recommended.
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Without a doubt, my shortest review yet. Different in style to my other reviews, lets see how it holds up.
In regards to the album, I've never seen or heard of it outside Ireland. However, if you think it's your sort of thing, I'd strongly suggest you download it or order it, whatever works. It's really not an album that should be overlooked.
PS. The band's name is a little misleading, it isn't a worship band or anything. I read somewhere that the name comes from a prayer book someone once had and they used the name as a joke and it stuck. Or something like that.This Message Edited On 02.13.08
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Nice review, it made me want this.
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where can i download this?
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I don't know of any specific places, but if you're willing to wait a week I can send it to you. I return home next week and I'll upload it then for anybody who wants it. I'm not able to upload right now because I'm staying with someone else and have a limited connection.
Here's their myspace if you want to have a listen:
http://www.myspace.com/unitedbiblestudiesThis Message Edited On 02.13.08
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does this have acoustic guitars
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yes. among other things.
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i hate acoustic guitars
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i hate people who hate acoustic guitars
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^^^agreed Reznor, jk.Great review. Sounds amazing. I've been getting into a lot of different stuff lately so i'll have to myspace this and than buy it shortly. For an island, it sure produces a lot of great music. Bono can be debated but nonetheless, happy to see it.
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yeah, there are quite a few great bands coming from the emerald isle. im writing a review for another irish band, a more rocky/punky band, hopefully will have it up by tonight or tomorrow.
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In the meantime, I should write one for The Corrs. Kidding but it wouldn't be a suprise.
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Nice little review, I like a bit of folk, this intrigues me.
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haha, the corrs I'd much rather forget 
It is a very interesting album Crysis, I originally had thought it was a black metal album until I learnt more about it. The cover implies it's something of the sort.
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But the band name does not ;)
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True, but the band name is not on the front cover. I had to pick it up and take a look at the spine, by which time I was already interested.
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this sounds awesome.
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it is, it is. As soon as I can upload it I'll send it to anyone who wants it.
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I've listened to this non-stop for the past week, and I've concluded that it's worthy of a 4.5
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I am now able to upload this for anybody who wants it.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
why the fuck does this only have 1 rating? This is an amazing album.
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