It's warm in this frozen land....or is it hot?
A Pilgrim | San Jose, Ca United States | 03/30/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Members:
Mattias Friberg (vocals, guitar)
Mathias Olden (bass)
Jens Hellgren (guitar)
Mattias Jeppsson (guitar)
Karl Arvidson (keyboards)
Marco Hildén (drums)
Country: Sweden
Normally I can't stand pop, but there are exceptions: Radiohead, Porcupine Tree (well, In Absentia at least) and Logh. The folk editors of Wikipedia tend to classify Logh as "Art rock, electro rock, post rock." Personally, I disagree with this assessment. To me, Logh just sounds like somber, competent Indie-pop.
This music is basically guitar centric, the drumming can be somewhat muffled, there are minimal array of electronic effects and mixing tricks. The overall performance and sound production lends a sense of warm dissonance, which is oddly juxtaposed with starkness. I attribute this impression to guitars, keyboards, and vocals which usually come across with a very crisp and sharp punch. Logh also makes frequent and subtle use of silence to accentuate the punctuated and stark sound of their instrumentation.
The piece Alliance of Hearts is the clear winner in this album. I'm a sucker for cathartic build ups, and while the ending of this piece is somewhat anti-climatic, it has it in spades.
The Raging Sun also relies on cathartic outbursts, but Mattias Friberg's typical sleepy/lazy/delicate vocals actually remind me of Sonic Youth's vocalist Thurston Moore, which was actually a rather pleasant surprise.
The Bones of Generations has the quickest cadence of all the songs in this album. Friberg does quite a bit of screeching in this piece. While I appreciate the use of screaming for creativity and expression, in Friberg's case it doesn't work well. Usually he sounds like his vocal cords are about to snap and he's going to pass out.
I definitely respect this album, and there are sections that I find quite beautiful and haunting, but my overall impression of the album is rather tepid.
Logh has displayed some admirable skill at employing silence, punctuated instrumentation and vocals, beautiful melodies, and a skillful use of dissonance that isn't overbearing.
But what bothers me is that this album feels incomplete. Their stark/warm/delicate approach to music is GREAT, but in this album it sounds underdeveloped and undifferentiated. In truth, I think the use of less traditional instruments (how about a violin or harp?) or environmental sound samples (e.g.wind howling, birds chirping, Swedes chanting) could have lent a more developed and varied sound, while still maintaining the starkness they like to convey. There were also opportunities to work some beautiful melodies for a longer period of time, but instead, were ended abruptly, unresolved. This method has its place, but this album is stark enough. Building up an extensive and beautiful melody to just cut it off is just too much for me.
This album is recommended, but with caution, the lack instrumental variety and melodic development can be a source of frustration."