[$10 // http://custommademusicva.com/release/the-devil-the-ghosts-dissolved-cd/ // http://www.seahorserecordings.com/site/blessed-child-opera-2/]
I'm not sure who sent me this CD exactly but I have my theories based upon the label and searching through my email who might have given them my address. (When I also realize this pops up on the Custom Made Music site it begins to make even more sense) The first song on here comes off very strong, very intense. It's got this dark rock side to it which reminds me of The Courtesans but also something between early Marilyn Manson and The Velvet Underground. Male and female vocals sing in unison though sometimes the female vocals take more to the front and the male vocals are coming through in whispers. Even though Blessed Child Opera is from Italy that still feels like no excuse for my not hearing them for the first time until now! They seem to have been making music for quite a while and it's got my heart racing.
As the album grows and seems to take form it loses a bit of its darkness but it doesn't lose any of its character. I'm not really sure what it turns into though other than some form of melodic rock. I feel like I should be able to place it with something like, "Oh yeah, it's The Lemonheads" or "It sounds like Urge Overkill" or some sort of band that you might expect to hear on what is considered to be college rock radio but I just cannot find that exact source to compare Blessed Child Opera with and that is not a bad thing. (Since they've been making music for so long they should be their own point of comparison by now anyway)
Even if the songs don't ever seem to get as dark as that opening number (And again, I commend them for opening strong) and the female vocals seemingly fade to where the songs do tend to just be focused on the male vocals, the fact remains that the message still seems to be bleak. I wouldn't call the music upbeat but it certainly isn't as sad or angry as goth or whatever-- it's got a tempo and tune somewhere between The Verve and Lou Reed's "Perfect Day", so not up too high but not down too low either. This is just another one of the things that I like about this album-- it can have that dark sense to it, that dark vibe, without straight out being dark. It's the type of music you could listen to when you are sad but you don't have to dress in all black to appreciate.
In some ways, a song such as "Mother" can remind me of one of the slower sounding ballads from Gogol Bordello, which is never a bad thing. Overall though I just feel like Blessed Child Opera is a band who is coming to me right now for the first time but has been around for much longer than that. As much as I was like, "Ahh!! Why haven't I heard this before!!" I'm also wondering why more artists and bands are not influenced by BCO and making music which sounds like this-- or if they are I want to hear them because this should be the beginning of a fabulous musical revolution.
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