The Spell
- The Black Heart Procession
- Band Name: The Black Heart Procession
- Record Label: Touch & Go
- Release Date: May 9, 2006
- Critic Score
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A pitch-perfect blend of Black Heart past and present, and a recording as accomplished as any that navigates similarly dark seas.
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90Bleak and broody music has never been quite so thrilling.
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As much as I loved Amore Del Tropico, The Spell comes across even more striking.
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A magical collection of songs where the lyrics, instruments and voice somehow blend perfectly, matching each other moment to moment to tell the same story, set the same mood.
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80The Spell is Black Heart Procession's best album, cohesive though it lacks the conceptual arc of its predecessor, and dynamically arranged, with the sense of interplay that flows naturally from a working band.
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80'The Spell' marks their most successful record to date in creating a coherent aesthetic throughout; a beguiling and compelling atmosphere of black magic.
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80Snapping snare, pump-organ and wiry guitar frame Jenkins' mood of stoned baroque beautifully. [Jun 2006, p.122]
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Bewitching from front to back. [Jul 2006, p.192]
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These are songs that should be performed on a rare cabaret stage in a slum.
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Although it's similar in style to the band's first three, numerically named releases, The Spell transcends more-of-the-sameness with the strategic addition of some elements culled from Amore and a further honing of the band's unmistakable sound.
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Again finds them excelling in the art of morbidity. [27 May 2006, p.33]
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70[A] confident follow-up. [Jul 2006, p.106]
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The Spell cannot break free of the band's successful formula without something a lot more challenging than this.
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Sounds closer to a conventional band than anything they've done yet. [#13, p.83]
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60Unfortunately, lead singer Pall Jenkins's vocals are not as spectacular as the arrangements backing him. [May 2006, p.82]
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The wonderfully overdramatic Spell inspires imagery of the house band in a borderland casino. [Sep 2006, p.81]
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This is woozy Americana wrapped fast in thick swathes of serrated menace.
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60It's too bad hackneyed spider-woman metaphors and non-specific allusions to 'regret' don't match BHP's level of sonic sophistication.
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50For a band that is now nearly a decade into its career, to release an album that retreads their superior earlier material with far less passion and conviction is about as depressing as the music is.
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40It's prevented from turning fancy by its grounding in some rudimentary rock dynamics. [May 2006, p.122]
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Positive: 2 out of 2
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Negative: 0 out of 2
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lilithc10simply beautiful music.
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Jacob9Brilliant. The Black Heart Procession as they should should - ominous, moody and atmospheric.