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by will zeiger (Waz711) / joseph m. pence (notaninja) - Jun 01, 2003
Volta Do Mar / Murder By Death - Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Zimmer Review #1 - Will Zeiger "Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Zimmer" contains the newest material from two of the regions most talented bands, Chicago's Volta do Mar and Indiana's Murder by Death. The tracks alternate between bands, with VDM's songs on the odds and MBD's songs on the evens. While the tracks are not exactly typical fare from either band, the album on the whole is quite impressive. In fact, each band manages the variation so well that the split serves as an indication of the expanse of the true talent of each band. Volta do Mar contains four members playing guitar, drums, five string bass and six string bass. Their first track, "Ready Broken Fighter" is an introduction of sorts, with a short recorded conversation leading into the backbone of every VDM song, strong bass harmonies led by prominent drumming. "On a Hand Held Sky" is a frantic second track from the band, with tight harmonies leading into explosive melodic bursts. "Search Lights" is a slower track, well suited to its country-twang and acoustic guitar strum. Finally, "Fall out of Cars", the band's best track on the split, is a ten minute sprawling giant of a post-rock/math-rock song, taking one melody in every direction possible. Murder By Death begins their part of the album with "A Masters", a somewhat slower, building song structured around a light guitar strum and keyboard melody. The bands cello is featured more prominently on "Canyon Inn", an airy song with flighty keyboards that give it an almost dream-like feel. "Knife Goes in" is perhaps the best of MBD's four tracks. The song seems straight out of a horror movie and is filled with a tension that makes one wonder if perhaps someone isn't sneaking up behind him or her right now. "We Watch", a hauntingly instrumental track, ends the album in a fashion more typical of what MDB do best. For anyone already a fan of either band, the split between the Volta do Mar and Murder by Death will not disappoint. Both bands expand their music in slightly different directions and succeed. For those unacquainted with either band, the album makes a great introduction to these two talented regional acts. Either way, "Konrad Friedrich" is an album one cannot go wrong with. Review #2 - Joe Pence Arbor Vitae delivers two of their very finest in their latest split EP, Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Zimmer, in the form of Chicago-export Volto do Mar and Bloomington, Indiana's Murder by Death. The real question here is can Volto Do Mar and Murder by Death, both dynamic bands with a persuasion for harmonious (and really cool!) instrumentals, work together for each other's benefit? "We're all waiting for the end / What kind of finish will he send? / These hands, full of splinters / Keep knocking back the whiskey sours," Murder by Death swoons through the keyboard-driven, tumultuous "A Masters in Reverse Psychology." It's one of those cataclysmic songs that you hold with you well after the album ends, and it would have been a great start... but it's not. We've already been led through an unnecessarily long sound clip and accompanying instrumental snippet, "Ready Broken Finger." The song that follows "A Masters," "On a Hand Held Sky" meshes stirring guitar inflections with percussion rolls and changing time signatures. It's a beautiful, drivingly melodic song, but a terrible follow-up and illustrates the big problem with this album, the even-odd split between Murder by Death and Volto Do Mar. "Search Lights Burn the Cornfields Bright" rests comfortably somewhere between shoegazer psychedelia and blissful country twang. "Knife Goes In, Guts Come Out" is a cosmic sectional piece that continually outshines itself in its layers of instrumentation and dischord. "Fall Out of Cars, Fall out of Night," Volto do Mar's best contribution, is rich and bursting forth with rivulets of jazz guitar reminiscent of The Sea and Cake before exploding into a dream-like chorus. "We Watch a Lot of Movies" reaches forward with haunting crafted moments of guitar/cello combination, reinforcing Murder by Death as the next obvious progression of Little Joe Gould. Individually, the pieces here are quite good, but played in a row, the effect is lacking. The material here is very tasty overall, but Murder by Death and Volto do Mar are really moving musically in two different directions. Take this album for what it is, two fairly good EPs lined up together; but if you're hoping there's some level of synchronicity here, Volto do Mar and Murder by Death simply work against each other. Placing the two bands side by side, rather than in individual sets, makes the album unsteady and ultimately only serves as a disservice to fans of either band. |