Review Summary: The human psyche is the most destructive thing in the world. If concentrated, this could create a monster.
Who am I? What do I want? Well, I've a response for that; Why should you care? I'm omnipresent. I'm everything, and I'm everywhere. I reside in the dark recesses of your mind, I lurk in the shadows, I embody everything your parents and society has warned you about. I am TheSilentObserver. Today I have a real treat for you. I've decided to review 'Days Past' by amateur Progressive/Art Rock artist Above The Graves. Hopefully he will not take offense to this, as I've nothing against him, and can sympathize with him when it comes to most things. The main thing which has drawn me out from the dark and toward this album is the sheer fact that it is publicized so heavily on this site. Like a magnet, nay, a moth to a flame I am drawn to it. I wish to become one with it. I wish to be inside of it. When one makes music all by himself, one must be willing to make sacrifices, and it's obvious that Mr. Brown has made these sacrifices here. He's sacrificed the respect of several Sputnik members, possibly alienated himself from his friends, teachers, perhaps even his own parents. He cannot, however, alienate me. I am the one who will always listen.
Now, the content on here is very strange indeed. I believe that Mr. Brown was attempting to make some sort of low-fidelity music here, as tracks like 'Trouble' seem to indicate. Very few tracks on this album featured vocals in the traditional sense, as most of the vocal tracks had a heavy reverb effect on them and were densely layered, almost as if to appear like a sort of ritualistic chant.The lyrics touch on many subjects such as the human spirit, murder, and what I perceive as insanity. Riveting stuff, really. Very interesting. Starting with the second track, escalating synthesizers enter the mix, and they do a very good job complimenting the overall eerie tone of the album, and bringing to mind the later works of Scott Walker such as 'Tilt' and especially 'The Drift'. The reason I say this is because the sound and style of the recordings was obviously made to illicit a feeling of fear among the listener. Going back to the subject of Mr. Brown's vocals, when he doesn't have a filter on them, they sound as though they were recorded without the use of a pop filter, which, to the unfamiliar, essentially a protection filter.
While I enjoyed the album for the most part, I feel that the acoustic tracks brought it down, and as a whole, it wasn't very cohesive. However, this was definitely not the worst album I've ever heard, and I'd recommend around half the tracks to fans of Avant Garde and Scott Walker
Reccomended tracks:
-Quiet Hours
-The Labyrinth
-R.I.P.
-Coda
