On the surface, it looks like Blackfield shouldn’t work because
\nof the disparity in its collaborators. It’s not quite the most
\nunusual thing I’ve ever heard, but the mixture of British
\nprogressive rock instrumentalist Steven Wilson (the driving force
\nbehind Porcupine Tree) and Israeli pop singer and peace activist
\nAviv Geffen seems on paper to be an odd mix.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, I rather like being wrong. Because Blackfield is a
\ndreamscape of an album, a rich interwoven tapestry of melody and
\nharmony that is at once ambitious and well executed. The sound is
\nsomewhat reminiscent of Porcupine Tree, but with a very strong
\nfolk-pop influence with heavy emphasis on minor keys; it sort of
\nreminds me of Duncan Sheik with a heavy progressive rock
\ninfluence.<\/p>\n
The production is crystalline; not surprising, since Geffen and
\nWilson produced the CD themselves, with help on the mastering side
\nof things by Alan Parsons-prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Chris Blair at
\nAbbey Road Studios. Strings are provided by the Illusion Quartet
\nand add a wonderful depth on tracks like “Open Mind” and “Lullaby,”
\nbut are neatly countered by the more stripped down sound of “Pain”
\n— which could, if one wasn’t listening too closely, remind you a
\nbit of alternative metal like Staind — and the funky
\npercussion-driven sound of “Scars.” Blackfield manages to touch on
\nseveral genres and sounds without every being limited by them, a
\nmistake way too many progressive rock-influenced acts make.<\/p>\n
Other tracks to take note of include the acoustic “Cloudy Now,”
\nwith what I sweartagod is steel guitar in the intro; the goth
\ncarnival darkness of “Hole In Me”; the grand triumphant close of
\nthe CD, “Hello”; and my favorite, the chilling title track. I was
\nhooked on “Blackfield” — the aforementioned title track — from
\nthe first time I heard the simple twelve-note piano intro. Powerful
\nstuff.<\/p>\n
Blackfield has created music that at once defines and transcends
\ngenre, class, and style. It’s challenging listening at times, but
\nwell worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":26957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7128],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38269","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-blackfield","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38269"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38269"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}