1. Tower ONE - 13:372. Sleeping Bones - 4:17
3. Desolation Road - 4:00
4. White Tuxedos - 6:30
5. The Resurrected Judas - 8:24
6. Silent Masses - 6:18
7. Last Carnivore - 4:22
8. Dark Fascist Skies - 6:05
9. Blood of Eden - 3:13
10. Silent Graveyards - 2:52
Bonus disc:
1. Runaway Train - 4:41
2. Interstellar Visitations - 8:25
3. Lazy Monkey - 2:25
4. Psalm 2013 - 2:11
5. The Wailing Wall - 3:19
6. Badbeats - 5:25
7. Burning Spears - 3:16
8. The Final Era - 2:58
I'm probably reviewing this album too soon. Each time I listen, I find more subtle intricacies and carefully interlaced themes linking certain songs together. It is one of the Flower Kings' most carefully constructed and intentional albums, something of an oddity in a band known for its free-wheeling, expansive musical excursions.
With the uniformly dark song titles, I wasn't sure what to expect. Had the Kings gone death metal? Thankfully, no - grand melodies, jazzy interludes, stately themes, heartfelt vocals, and bright yet complex arrangements abound as usual. Lyrically, the album is a sober semi-allegory about societal evil, personal confusion, and the search for hope. Intriguing images abound: the bones of a predator lie beneath the silent soil of Eden, kings and spies machinate in dark edifices, a Beatrice-like guide leads us through dark lands as we descend in ashes. I don't know if I could cobble together something half as good, and English is my first language.
Overall, the songs focus on human greed, war, and oppressive government, and individual responsibility. They juxtapose a personal hope of salvation with the state of the earth, almost putting them in conflict. The most frequent lyric on the album is "In silent graveyards, they look for saviors / A promised land beyond all prayers / A land where all the suffering is gone / And no one will bring you down / While the road to desolation lingers on..." The album is a call to action on earth, rather than waiting for heaven. (Though Chesterton has it right - without the hope of heaven, there isn't much on which to base earthly improvements.)
The bonus disc is a testament to the intention of the album, since all the songs on it are very good and worthy of being more than just "bonus", but they don't carry the weighty theme. On the double albums of the Kings' past, these would have been the breathers between grander opuses. Cut mercilessly from the "official" album, they serve as an excellent set of creative instrumental compositions and up-beat progressive pop songs, a short but substantial record in their own right. The boys from Sweden are still at the top of their game.
Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 sober semi-allegories
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