The Soil Bleeds Black — Alchemie

The Soil Bleeds Black first saw the light of day in '92, as a result of brothers Michael and Mark Riddick's need to express their love for medieval folklore in sound. After two years of experimentation and having endured what can almost be referred to as an identity crisis, the multi-instrumentalist Riddick brothers enlisted the help of female singer Eugenia Wallace. Subsequently, their sound evolved towards the kind of raw medieval folk the band has become so renowned for in certain circles. After having appeared on various compilations and releasing three albums on rather obscure labels such as Cruel Moon International and Draenor Productions, the band was finally picked up by England-based World Serpent Records in '98. The result of this record deal, the perfectly named Alchemie, was released in '99. To date it stands among the best The Soil Bleeds Black have recorded, and it is without a doubt a personal favorite of mine.

The first thing you have to understand about The Soil Bleeds Black, is that they do not strife to create awe-inspiring, technically impressive music. One of the goals is to recreate, or rather build upon authentic 'street folk', you know, the kind of music you'd expect to hear played on the corner of a street when walking through a busy medieval city. The music comes across as playful, emotional and somewhat improvised (though the songs are definitely composed), as opposed to rehearsed, clinical and cerebral. The same goes for Eugenia Wallace's vocals. In a lot of ways she is the quintessential folk-singer. Her voice is pleasing to the ear, but there can be no confusion about whether or not we're dealing with one of those (generally overrated) classically trained singers here. No, this is pure, unconditional honesty captured in a woman's voice. The art of imperfection and flaw.

Alchemie, then. One of my immediate observations about the album, to start with. In the past, The Soil Bleeds Black's music suffered from a bad sound. You'd think that the cause of this was budget-related, but that's not exactly the case here. The Riddick brothers like to record songs immediately after they're composed, as they want to preserve the random quality of improvisation and really capture the spirit of the moment. All this being true, I'm glad they can now afford to capture the moment with better recording equipment. Alchemie features a much better production than it's predecessors. The sound is still appropriately raw and unpolished, but there's clarity and even some power to it.

One of the most striking characteristics of Alchemie is the strong emphasis on contrast. One moment you're cheerfully whistling along with a very optimistic flute-tune, the next you're just sitting there, listening to very mournful, tragic melodies.

Now let's look at some of the songs. After the mysterious, hesitant tones of Magia Naturalis, the deceptively cheerful melodies of Luna Begets Mercury create a somewhat awkward effect. This definitely reflects the album's contrastive nature, and it works remarkably well. One of the strengths of The Soil Bleeds Black is that they always manage to apply a great deal of diversity to their albums, thus never allowing the music to fall into the tiresome pit of routine. The Riddick brothers rarely repeat the same trick. This is also very evident in the vocal department. Like a painter mixing different colors to create new ones, the threesome use all the properties of their surprisingly diverse vocal spectrum in ways which create interesting combinations and fresh vocal textures. Tracks like Winter Marriage and Fire of the Sacred Seal heavily rely on Mark's weird, strangely fascinating vocals (picture a pitched down Kermit the Frog), while Eugenia gets to shine on highly memorable songs such as the aforementioned Luna Begets Mercury and Dethrone the Wounded King (great duet). While we're on the subject of vocals, there are very pretty guest vocals by one Amanda Blickos on the melancholic Moonburn. And as if that wasn't enough, Lapis Philosophorum features a collaboration between The Soil Bleeds Black and fellow atmospheric artists Arcana.

And there's much more to this album. Make Not Vain the Cup Thou Drankest, for example, features some great flute playing. Not in a technical sense ofcourse - chances are Mark didn't even know how to hold the instrument a couple of years prior to Alchemie - but the sheer passion and emotion that shines through is respectable to say the least.

Which is probably the best way to describe the entire album. To date Alchemie stands among the best folk albums I've heard. It runs a bit short, but the high quality of the songs provides ample compensation. If you're into medieval atmosphere and imagery, you should definitely check this baby out.