Inspired by the Egyptian
Book of the Dead
,
Brainticket
's
Celestial Ocean
tells the story of an ancient king traveling on a ship through the afterlife.
merges modern and ancient musical instruments throughout this album. Synthesizer sounds that could have come from a 20th century sci-fi movie (e.g.,
Logan's Run
) are mixed with the acoustic sounds of the flute and zither. This sonic juxtaposition adds to the theme of the king traveling from the ancient world through time. The first two tracks,
"Egyptian Kings"
and
"Jardins,"
are tied together with a common melody and are among the best tracks on
. On these songs,
creates a musical landscape of synthesizer and reverbed flute.
Joel Vandroogenbroeck
delivers his lyrics in a near whisper, while
Carole Muriel
repeats his words. This call-and-response vocal delivery adds to the bizarre atmosphere created by the music. Although the aural textures on
are often engaging, many of the songs drift into the realm of self-indulgent noodling. For example, on
"To Another Universe"
Muriel
spouts out numbers and other abstractions over driving percussion and synthesizer bleeps. Other tracks like
"Cosmic Wind"
boast no obvious melodies, which can also make for a difficult listen. At times, it's hard to take the songs on
seriously. Like-minded bands from the period, such as
Gong
, could get away with singing about space ships and other psychedelic themes because their words were tongue in cheek. In contrast,
's more serious slant on this subject matter can be a bit harder to swallow. Despite these limitations,
provides an interesting aural journey. Fans of
or the
Krautrock
genre will most likely find this album rewarding. However, the casual listener won't miss anything by avoiding this trip. ~ Andrew Helminger