Search - Shriekback :: Sacred City

Sonoko F. from MONTCLAIR, NJ
Reviewed on 1/21/2007...

Final cd from the innovative band Shriekback. Excerpts from All Music Guide's review: "...Sacred City went out of print almost immediately after its 1992 release; this reissue, with the advantages of 20/20 hindsight, proves the group to have been well ahead of their time, their music predating the subsequent rise of electronica via its use of dub and drum'n'bass-styled sampled rhythms. Recorded with original members Barry Andrews, Dave Allen and Martyn Barker as well as Karl Hyde...their intellectual art-funk always makes for intriguing listening -- an album (and band) overdue for rediscovery. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide"

An amazing musical exploration of the city as archetype

07/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sacred City was Shriekback's last release. Rather than showing any sign of decline as so many bands do, this disc instead demonstrates the full flowering of the band's talent. From the industrial Bastard Sons of Enoch to the joyful Hymn to the Local Gods, the album uses a variety of musical styles to explore all facets of the city as an archetype (although Londoners may recognize their city perhaps more than any other). The two instrumental pieces, 3AM and Underground, are not so much music as atmosphere, hauntingly capturing the essence of night in the city with minimalistic genius. Well worth acquiring and listening to repeatedly. (I also recommend walking though your city while playing it on headphones. It will make you appreciate your city and Shriekback's Sacred City in a whole different way.)"

Concept CD about cities gets buried in production

Kenton Larsen | Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada | 01/16/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"On Shriekback's previous CD, Go Bang, the band stopped singing about prehistoric fish in an attempt to have a hit single.Let's just say that their version of K.C. and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight" didn't rocket to the top of the charts.On their seventh CD, Sacred City, frontman Barry Andrews (formerly of XTC) returns to the African rhythms that have worked so well for him in the past. The difference is that this time the package takes the form of a concept album, each song apparently "about myths and phenomena which are common to a city", so say the liner notes.Unfortunately, the CD is only successful intermittently. For some reason, the producer thought it wise to pump up the bass and turn down the vocals. Coupled with the absence of a lyrics sheet, the CD's "concept" becomes buried and difficult, if not impossible, to discern.The two standout tracks here are "Hymn to the Local Gods" and "Open Up Your Filthy Heart To Me", a ballad that compares the city to a lover ("like a priestess, like a whore") and easily eclipses everything else on the CD.For a true taste of Shriekback, one could do no better than giving 1985's Oil and Gold a listen. That CD manages to invoke the ambiance and spirit for which Sacred City aims, but with superior results. Plus, it features no less than three songs about prehistoric fish."