All My CDs, part 40: Annwyn, Beneath the Waves

Before I begin the first review of shelf number two, I should offer a warning. I’m about to spend about a month reviewing albums by one of my favorite bands, Faith and the Muse. One of the things I love about this band is that they’re difficult to categorize in any specific genre. Many of the genres they’ve been pigeonholed into are not terribly familiar to me. I apoligize if I misapply some genre-specific terms in my attempts to describe this awesome music.

Annwyn, Beneath the Waves - Faith and the Muse

When I was about 14 or 15, I received a laptop for Christmas and for the first time accessed the Internet without fear of adult supervision or interference. Among other things, I used this newfound freedom... to discover indy music. One of the first songs I heard on some online radio station was “Cantus” by Faith and the Muse. That and another song, “Cernunnos”, persuaded me to order a copy of the album containing both.

“Cantus” is a track that recognizes that a lot of goth or trance music sounds more awesome when it incorporates driving, primal drumbeat and ominous Latin chanting, perhaps with an atmospheric string accompanyment, then goes ahead and makes a whole song based on those elements. The result is an aurally-administered dose of pure adrenaline. Although it makes a good background noise, surprisingly it also stands up to attentive listening as a piece of music in its own right.

Faith and the Muse is a genre-defying band whose style fits well with goth, trance or metal aesthetics, and which hunts for inspiration in ancient mythologies and modern Pagan spirituality. This combination of old and new themes often means incorporating folk instruments and styles alongside modern electronic sounds. Annwyn, Beneath the Waves is a concept album specifically exploring Celtic myths and legends, and their place in the modern world. Many of the songs, such as “Dream of Macson” and “Branwen Slayne”, are theatrical tellings of folk tales. These old-style pieces are interwoven seamlessly with rock ballads in a dark and industrial style, with the two extremes sometimes overlapping in a single song. What should be an odd juxtaposition seems instead a powerful synthesis that empowers each to transcend expectations.

In my opinion, this synthesis is no better demonstrated than in “Cernunnos”, a modern-style dark gothic ballad whose lyrics are written from the perspective of the Celtic god of the same name. But rather than telling some ancient myth about him, it tells a newer story of the old god’s power being supplanted and co-opted by “new gods”, “new ways”, just as the pagan faiths that once dominated Europe have been swept aside in favor of monotheistic or atheistic worldviews. Cernunnos in the song is positively dripping with rage at this loss, building up to a discordant climax of sound before ending the song with a beautifully, spitefully sarcastic “Blessed be!”

Some of my favorite tracks on the album have a very ancient, even primal feel to them, such as “Arianrhod”, which like “Cantus” centers on complex drumming and vocals, although in this case the vocals are nonverbal and thus give an impression of uncivilized, purely emotional energy. I’m less interested in the more ostensibly modern rock songs such as “Rise and Forget” and “Annwyn, Beneath the Waves” (the title song). I prefer the ones that somehow mix old and new styles, such as “The Silver Circle,” which has a totally bitchin’ dulcimer solo.

I do not feel that I’ve done this album justice in this review so far. It’s one of those albums you can just throw on and listen through, and dream your way into a faraway land of epic landscapes and tragic heroes. But more than that, it’s the album that introduced me to one of my favorite bands of all time. I’m tempted to say something like “Just listen to it, and you’ll understand what I mean,” but I know it’s not true. You may listen, and may even be inspired as much as I have, but not in the same way that I have. And actually, that does not bother me. I have no need to pass my excitement on to others in exactly the same form. I am content... I am satisfied... just listening. That’s how much I love this album.

Next: Vera Causa