Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell working on a new project
with keyboardist John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Ministry, Fear
Factory) under the watchful eye of Ministry’s Al Jourgensen
and released on Jourgensen’s 13th Planet Records to
boot—it leads to a certain expectation, one that surely
does not include Simon and Garfunkel covers. Now take that
expectation, banish it to the dark recesses of your mind and
never think of it again.
Ascension of the Watchers could not be farther from what
these musicians have done in the past. Guitarist Edu Mussi
joins Bell and Bechdel in creating 11 songs, 72 minutes worth
of moody, orchestral soundscapes (including their take on
“Sounds of Silence”). Numinosum could
be the soundtrack to a movie yet to be made. It is completely
unlike almost anything in my music collection. The only thing
I can compare it to is the work David Bowie did with Brian
Eno in the late 1970s. I need to be in a certain headspace
to fully appreciate it—unwinding on the drive home from
a metal show works best. One thing I do not have to in the
right frame of mind to grasp: Bell’s versatility is
astounding. |
