I bring
this up because whenever I think about Dead Can Dance, I think about those
days. They weren’t really one of “my bands” exactly (I think I maybe had one or
two of their albums then), but one of my fellow PSB’s got really into them at
the time and managed to collect just about all of their albums from these weekend
outings. So I heard them a lot growing up and eventually they became one of my
very favorite bands. My band, New Standards Men, even covered one of their
songs for a spell. The album that grabbed my attention the most was their third
album, 1987’s Within the Realm of a Dying
Sun.
To be
honest, I think what finally brought me around to Dead Can Dance was the fact
that many of the death and doom metal bands I was listening to at the time
cited them as a huge influence. And this is absolutely the most evident in the
sound of Dying Sun. It’s ominous without
being too gloomy. It’s dark without being heavy, which at 14 years old I didn’t
know was possible.
Recorded in
1985 when the band was essentially just the duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan
Perry (with drummer Peter Ulrich filling in), Dying Sun feels almost like a split solo record between the band’s
two members. The A side is made up almost entirely of Perry compositions, while
the B side is made up predominantly of Gerrard’s work. Some think that this
song layout is a detriment to the album, adding a sudden and jarring shift
between the two’s vastly different singing styles. I actually think that this
works in the album’s favor, giving it an interesting diversity between sides. The
result is both savagely beautiful and darkly ethereal. While I think the album
is near flawless, personally, I probably prefer Gerrard’s songs over Perry’s. Gerrard’s
vocal range is incredibly vast and she really showcases that on this album,
able to go effortlessly from a deep, low range like in the gorgeous
“Persephone” to a high, atmospheric pitch as in “Dawn of the Iconoclast.”
Another
thing I love about Dying Sun is that
it seems to mark a kind of change in direction for the band. Gone now were the
days of the simple gothic post-punk sound of their self-titled debut, as the
duo began using odd instrumentation and time signatures to create a blend of
neo-classical and chamber pop added to their post-rock base, a sound they
hinted at on their previous album, Spleen
and Ideal. Also, the band seemed more eager to take musical chances on this
album, even writing songs like their iconic “Cantara,” that are, dare I say,
“upbeat.”
Again, the
Pawn Shop Bandits days was admittedly not my finest hour, but I do look back on
those days rather fondly. It was perhaps the time in my life when I discovered most
of the music that I would later come to adore. And the way I see it, pawn shops
are kind of known for ripping people off so maybe ripping them off was my way
of getting even with them. Or maybe I’m an awful person. Either way, I’ve made
peace with it.
- Jonathan Eagle
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