Even with a genre as narrow as Progressive Death Metal, bands taking a step back and releasing an altogether more sedate collection of tracks is by no means unique.  For example Opeth very successfully chanced their arm with “Damnation” and more recently Spires laid their souls bare with the incredible “Lucid Abstractions” EP, but this takes a different path still. Stripping back the electrics, distortion, extremity of vocal and drum, the aforementioned examples released works of beauty. Talanas did not…

“Asylum” is not at all what I had come to expect after the announcement of an acoustic set.  This is indeed a truly magnificent and delicate work, but beneath the cepia-tinged layers there lies an eerie antiquity that sprawls forth from the speakers and leads the listener through the intricate tracks of British occult and ghost tales with an almost Lovecraftian hint at the horrors just out of frame.

Many a band are about as evil or atmospheric as their carefully calibrated electronics will permit, but in naked form, the Talanas sound here is naturally much lighter whilst still retaining the dark and sinister feel of the earlier recordings.  This is no mean feat.  It is not Talanas-lite, it is fleeting recollections of tarnished candlesticks, a travelling Freak Show, cherished relics and memories just beyond your reach.

Clocking in at around half an hour, the five tracks vary in feel, but draw obvious comparison with the closing section of “The Waspkeeper” album and the more recent 7″ B-side, “Beloved Whore”.  At times dreamlike and ethereal, others chilling and resolutely ominous, but still always unmistakeably themselves, the band push their eccentric boundaries and reach deeper into the abyss of their graven souls achieving a cohesive and spectacular work of mellow sonic art.  Whilst not imposing, there is a distinct and notable void of silence left after the climax of the final track.

Whichever approach the band take, they ultimately sound like no other band which is incredibly rare in modern music.  Their influences are many and varied, often a hint of the shadows cast by the past are recognisable, but there are seldom few bands that have their own sound.  This is an accomplished work and a very welcome expansion of the growing catalogue.  Things are looking very promising for the forthcoming second full length, free from the restraints of any previous work, they are free to dabble and create anything they wish.

Initially only a digital release, the recent jaunt around Blighty with Dutch invaders, The Monolith Deathcult, saw an inventive but simple sale of Keys To The Asylum, which  is a simple key, but affords the owner an exclusive download code along with their keepsake.   One of the keys is available to win in our first competition here soon, to coincide with further Talanas news…