Ignis Fatuus
The Futility Goddess
(c)1998 Cold Spring Records
Review by Neil St.Laurent
Thanks to Cold Spring for the CD
Far from the extremes of aggression, distant to the rhythms of metal,
and quite removed from the overly complex, is the self-labelled dark,
neo-classical, and ambient sound of Ignis Fatuus.
"The Futility Goddess" does vary its position, from beginning to end,
in the spectrum of dark music, ranging from quiet classical music to
ambient sounds similar to Lull (with the very odd added bonus of whispery
female vocals). Strangely, some of those female vocals, combined with some
of the music earlier in the CD, crossover slightly with components from
My Dying Bride's "Turn Loose The Swans" -- otherwise MDB is not a likely
candidate for comparison. All around the vocals are kind of unusual, not
in that they sound odd, but normally this type of music is void of vocals;
another band that uses vocals overlaying a simple classical style is Autumn
Tears, but their lyrics are far more involved than Ignis Fatuus.
The music of "The Futility Goddess" is quite simple, that doesn't
mean however that it is simply ambient sound; normally quite removed
from bands like Lull or Innade, there is still place for pure
ambience in the recording. While this simplicity definitely makes it
easier to maintain a constant atmospheric feel, it is lacking a
little something, the something that evokes a true emotional response
from the listener. That is, it is easy to let your mind wander into
the world created by the music, but it is unlikely that it will evoke
any particular emotion, or if it does, it is very shortly afterward
dismissed.
Lacking strong emotional content it may leave many fans of the dark
genres kind of disappointed, despite providing a very consistent
atmospheric feel. However, the album is extremely relaxing, and as
mentioned before, it is very easy to get caught up in the atmosphere,
so the final decision to enjoying this recording will likely depend
heavily on what mood you are in at the time.
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