Torment in search of redemption
William Timothy Lukeman | 04/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Here's a strangely, darkly beautiful collection of religious songs from 1973, born from the ashes & weeds that followed the fading of the 1960s ... and born from a far more personal, tortured place as well. The very name of the band, Silmaril, reflects the influence of Tolkien -- specifically, the mythic foundations of Middle-Earth, a tale of obsession & self-destruction due to something that could never be possessed. And this is also the emotional narrative of Silmaril's founder, Matthew Peregrine.
The largely black cover reflects the yearnings & despair of Peregrine's soul. A charismatic young man who forged Silmaril from a Catholic youth group, he was also struggling with his undeniably gay nature, striving to transcend it via a mystic, contemplative life as an artist. The pain of this struggle reveals itself in his songs: haunting, aching, often sung by a plaintive female vocalist. He's so obviously trying to become what he believes he should be, instead of accepting who he truly is, that his anguish is palpable.
Yet out of that suffering, great beauty emerges from darkness. This is almost apocalyptic psychedelic folk-pop, understated but fiercely intense. It wrenches at the heart with a power few musical artists of the time could hope to achieve. The overall feeling is that of walking down a very bleak & lost road, following some distant star of hope that may only exist within, an illusion created & clung to in utter desperation.
Peregrine eventually accepted himself, only to die tragically young in the first years of AIDS. The songs remain, testament to "a terrible beauty," as Yeats once wrote in a different context. The listener is left to wonder if the creation of this remarkable work was worth the torment Peregrine endured because of his religious beliefs, or whether it somehow justifies that suffering. Perhaps a little of both.
Most highly recommended for the thoughtful, sensitive listener!
"
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1