|
Microscopic View of Telescopic RealmCD reviewMicroscopic View of Telescopic Realm - Tourniquet Some Christians may frown upon 'heavy metal' music. This is a great pity: it can be tremendously expressive, capturing valid human emotions not often found in contemporary music. Tourniquet, perhaps more than any other band I've come across, also demonstrates incredible versatility and musicianship. Song titles such as 'Erratic Palpitations of the Human Spirit' and 'Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror' suggest something out of the ordinary. This is truly remarkable music. It's loud . . . very loud. But it's certainly not just 'noise'. This is seriously complex stuff - key changes, time changes and instrumentation changes in breathtaking rapidity. Ted Kirkpatrick, the founder of the band, lists the music of Beethoven, Brahms and Bach among his inspirations and this shows through clearly. It's hard to describe but even though the instrumentation is somewhat different to your average orchestra, certain songs do sound somehow classical. Now and again there's a cello or flute solo thrown in, providing a stunning contrast to the screaming guitars. Quirky but quite beautiful is the only way I can describe it. The songs an this album cover a wide range of subjects, among them anger, pride and self-centredness, always viewed from an orthodox Christian perspective. Often brilliantly argued, the lyrics blow away any suggestion that contemporary music is always 'shallow'. Each song has a Scripture reference and I soon found my listening session combining with a Bible study! The band are on a secular record label, tour with secular bands and no doubt have many non-Christian fans so it seems highly appropriate that several songs speak clearly to the non-Christian world. If you like hard music then you won't find anything better than this. 10/10. Jon Mason© Evangelicals Now - May 2000 |