Black Sun Ensemble - Starlight
(Camera Obscura)
From the ten-minute opener, an Eastern-flavored, mind altering, raga instro entitled "Jewel of The Seven Stars," complete with congas, banjo and Jesus Acedo's sitar-like, Eye of Horus guitar, it's clear this Arizona ensemble's eighth album (shortened from the previously announced Starlight and Starbright title—see the Live at KXCI disk for details) will be as enticing and instrumentally challenging as their first (also (re)issued on Camera Obscura). Previous Black Sun Ensemble releases have risen and fallen on the listener's enjoyment/tolerance of Acedo's jaw-dropping fretwork, and once again, fans will be amazed while novices may fall asleep. Few guitarists today can match his intricate, lightning fast journey up and down the scales, while his band wails away behind him, thankfully staying out of the way. Unfortunately, Black Sun Ensemble has been unable to replicate the irreplaceable vocal stylings of original vocalist Odin Helgison (Acedo's attempts on last year's Hymn To The Master were weak at best and Starlight's trade-offs between bassist Eric Johnson and Joseph Graves may, with one notable exception be even worse), so it is the amazing instrumentals that will appeal to most listeners.
The jazzy "Loki's Monstrous Brood" (a revisit to Hymn To The Master's "Loki's Monster's Brood," and missing the surf guitar twang Acedo added on the Live at KXCI version) is the finest Crimson knockoff in years, complete with the infamous note-for-note, syncopated Fripp/Bruford solo a la "Larks' Tongue..." (drummer Otto Terrorist's fills are to be commended throughout), and the trilogy of "The Lycian" (perhaps a reference to Acedo's book of poetry, "The Lyceum"?), "Tralaine" and "Mascara Moon" a half hour into the set may be the finest 15 minute stretch of instrumentals one is likely to encounter this year.
We spoke of the one agreeable vocal track on the album and that would be the should-be-a-hit-single, "Sun Beam Angel." The floating melody is matched by Johnson's finest vocal effort and Acedo's restrained, yet fluid guitar lines. Easily the signature track on the album, this may be the BSE's most memorable performance since "Beneath the Sapphire Sky" (from Lambent Flame) first attracted me to the band nearly 15 years ago. Hopefully, it will do the same for a new generation of listeners.
Following a nearly decade-long, self-imposed exile (during which Acedo spent two years in a mental institution recovering from schizophrenia accelerated through substance abuse), Black Sun Ensemble's second collection of new material in as many years improves upon the previous, and is an encouraging signal that they, like Acedo have successfully conquered the road to recovery. As the new lineup begins to gel (and, hopefully, with a better vocalist), future endeavors from this leading light in the much-maligned neo-psychedelic movement will be eagerly anticipated.
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