Search - Dead Voices on Air :: From Labrador To Madagascar

Very strong release

toddsend | Evansville, IN | 07/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Mark Spybey is a consummate English gentleman and his first solo release in several years is an effective descendent of his early work with legendary proto-ambient avante group Zoviet France. Some may consider this to be 'industrial', though that nowadays implies metal guitars and distorted vocals, rather than dense instrumental collages of cinematic texture. The percussive 'Labrador' ushers in tribal drums to the ambient mix, and the droning tonal shards seem to conjure vivid images of a faraway plain just before an ensuing storm. The brief 'Grueland' is like partying around a campfire with a primitive tribe, while 'Madagascar' could be the [...] love child of a Middle Eastern ritual and Italian prog-soundtrackers Goblin. DVOA have matured, from the early days of improvised toy tinkerings to later song-based (and even vocal) experiments, and now to this - what seems to be a measured balance of free composition and intentioned, rhythmic structure. At once primal and Fourth-World mystical in vibe, 'From Labrador To Madagascar' is a wonderful and refreshing set of sounds/songs that are simultaneously beautiful and ominously unsettling."