Spotlight: The Arcane Parade

Published by Al Young | Filed under Music

Arcane Parade’s MySpace

Energy, dedication and artistry: all that matters in music, and all that the Arcane Parade embody. It’s wonderful (for me at least, it may be a perversion to others) to find a band so free of pretence, so free of a sole desire for success above music, so free of an adherence to mainstream musical formulae. The song Bang (from their album/EP Deferring Heartbreak/Changing Forever) puts it best: ‘there’ll be fire in our hearts, we’ll try to make you understand that we do what we do, ’cause it’s the only thing we know.‘

The music itself, across everything that they have recorded, is wonderfully energetic, and a little esoteric: vocal delivery is plain and honest and sometimes ascends to a raspy growl, something which could be considered a lost art in the age of the rape that is excessive post-production. Their music combines vivacious chord progressions with technical lead parts, and the two combine to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It’s danceably simple, yet complex enough to satisfy snobbish music theorists: who would probably be better off listening to the likes of the Dillinger Escape Plan, Shotmaker and The Jesus Lizard anyway. This concept of duality in their music is a pattern: in The English Way, vocal fragility is combined with a surprising strength in the chorus, with that growl showing its lovely self once again.

The drumming is easily on a par with the ability of the guitarists: the drummers serves as more than a timekeeper, and seems to actually lead the songs rather than merely keep the other instrumentalists going. A refreshing change from the standard rock beat, that’s for sure.