A song is not just conversion of words into beautiful voice, then adding into epical music and then to yell “Eureka!” in middle of open mouthed Alexandrian streets. As I desperately tried to hammer somewhere in time (Oh yes the last article) - the formula must be multiplied by ‘soul’ into ‘technicality’’ to stand against the tides of time. In Metal MuZak there are more to consider, it’s not hammering drums in Kotthu beats, pumping raw distortion like an old Indian motor bike, and screaming like old hags in Alfred Hitchcock movies in the name of technicality(In some cases even those hags feels better). And mostly it should not be uttering some kind of words you found in a ‘Kadala Packet’ (Bite that come in paper bags. For 10/= on road sides in LK and India).There should be a meaning for everything, every word uttered, every cymbal that crashes, Every string that’s slapped, picked, tapped, every note- palm muted.
Neither is an ‘Album’ to be an addition of songs (think about adding number 1 over and over…). Than a ‘journey’ where the listener open eye’s into places he never dreamt of. It’s more the Flying Dutchman that takes ‘eyes’ into the far lands to see the unseen and the unbelief’s due myopia. It is the first even before Einstein that proved ‘time’ is not the inertial frame of the universe as Newtonian principles suggest.
It’s been since June 26th that I had the practice of plugging my headphones and go through the new Stigmata album “Psalms of conscious Martyrdom” whenever I sat in front of the PC (almost 12hrs from my 16 awake hours). Each time I listen to it the more I love it. It’s more a cryptic journey through Stigmata’s trials and tides of time. The song consists of good elements according to their title and each element of the song is in harmony of the other. It’s a rather complex burden of pure-mathematics to try to decrypt these lyrical sounds yet euphoria to hear. At one certain time I’m pretty sure it dwells into individual thought patterns of mankind. Yet then again you find it’s the Spirit of Stigmata singing about its martyrdom. Well... since this journey is about martyrdom for the purest religion of all history, so let’s follow noses through the songs keeping that in mind and at least get the surface in.
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| The new album cover |
The much familiar Sri Lankan conch shell blowing out, and so starts the first track ‘Spiral Coma’. “The numbers and names …”- well kind of give you a chill that there were times’s where everything was like a spiral night mare. Where you can’t make head or tail of anything and the dark passages you run through seem endless and each footfall is aimed in the darks. The song chorus melodically asks to: “Sleep like a child, ride the Lunar tide. Dream like a child, waken from your coma”. So it’s more like Suresh saying- Open eye’s from the nightmare’s, wake up from the Coma and sleep more at peace in now on for it’s a new beginning. A request to sleep like a child - Break free in complexities of thought and action, and be more simple and lucid. The Opening with the sound of Conch-shell brings the Sri Lankan way of a new beginning, exorcizing the daemons of the past. And surely it’s a great track to spin along.
Next we stumble on PuRer (Libera NoS A Malo). Its’ more a song where, Stigmata gives a piece of their mind to the diabolical busybodies that tried to pull their leg through their years. It states that ‘purpose never drove me’ and asks to pacify the restless peace within those diabolists’. What’s really kicking in this song not only the catchy music (Good job on musical arrangements Tennyson and the Bass doodle by Javin) but the tone of the words that say “I am PuRer more than you”. Brings out the idea: It’s not trying to push down the other and raise oneself in status, but more like saying- we are human and yeah we make mistakes, but GOD! We don’t do stuff like that. We are way better.
“Summoning Cry of Aries” follows up “PuRer”, and by far this is the most Epic song in the album. It’s like a piece out of “Danube” with lyrics. I still haven’t figured out what this song actually could mean. But at the moment it feels like a confession about the few seconds where human adrenaline boils up out of suppressed grief-melancholy/ confusion. The 9mm bullet: a mental breakdown (I prefer 30 or 50 cal’s though). It’s that flutter of the eye lid where ‘life fell still when time seduce my soul ’… and where conscious becomes the bane of soul, where foresight is at the weakest making every vision blacken and torn. It’s those few ticks of father time where mind slowly plays games on the soul. The song sends vibrations not to be guided by those feelings by convincing “not be led astray…, not let future beat my ways…”. Just to go on with my innocent muses, The music gives you the feeling of being on an Galleon where the navigator Suresh voices out while the music shows sea of by Andrew, consistent crashing waves by Taraka, the air and atmosphere by Tennyson and added Keyboard guy… an image of an Individual thought pattern in breakdown and rising back to the former shell with new resolution.
It’s all nothingness after that, I mean the song “Nothing” beats into the ear of the listeners with a very catchy drum beat and effects. To me it feels like a 9 minute psychedelic drift within a kaleidoscopic space full of vivid colors flashing within the eye. For me (and for any other), who never had got the luck of stepping into the joyful LSD fused trips like The Beatles, this would be what the doctor will recommend. When listening through headphones with eye’s closed, The track is full of full of sounds, beats, echo’s that makes the inner soul float with the colors that take various psychedelic shapes. “Nothing” somewhat listening to a much loud, heavier, version (consisting different lyrics and music) of “learning to Fly” by Pink Floyd. It’s a song that takes time to get tune into, but do believe and mark my word when I say- You MUST put your headphones, close you’re eye’s layback you’re chair and let the journey begin.
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| Stigmata |
‘Nothing’ gets followed up by the much all familiar track – “Dead Rose wails for light”. There are great improvements from the last version release where it came with some what a ‘dark’ video (I’m not saying dark as in evil. It’s just dark with less light). As the title goes a souls wails to shed some light to its decaying soul, consumed by anger, hate, grief, confusion of right and wrong fallen into despair. The atmosphere is so strong that you almost feel the person is going to suicide any moment. And by last ending guitar whams, it’s almost as if the human being met the end.
From that share of grief, it’s “If Alpha meets Omega”. Listening to the track, even I myself wondered what it would be if the beginning met its end. It’s a instrumental, no words- only the beat of drums, the slaps of base the pump of rhythm and the much noticeable melodies and shreds by solo guitarist(Andrew, Kick ass dude). Starting with all-hell-lose shredding may be to point the ‘alpha of the omega’, to then ending with melodies... What I imagine is the beautiful way of putting the enveloping and the conclusion of ‘Omega’ (Haven’t you seen those destructo kinds of scenes with beauty? You should pay more attention when watching movies rather than watching couples kissing or shouldering each other. To man there is nothing more beautiful and passionate like creating and destructing things).
After the Omega it’s “Od(d)yssey” . The song brings out an invitation to join to live the life at the maximum in the presence. ‘Come, pear into the now, the future is here - the future is forever and never,’- To hasten to live in the present (for after all today was yesterdays’ tomorrow) letting the past of which no value (except the experience and the lessons learned) fall behind. As I see it, it point out that “Humanity’s ultimate decay” is their subconscious vulnerability of dwelling in the past oblivious of the present that fades with each flutter of the eye and the thirst of obliteration (War or the destruction of environment? I guess everything included). Though I still didn’t quite get what it does actually mean there is a quite an appreciatable harmonical chant – “Step out of your shadow, Take this life back into to your hands. Brothers of passion and sisters of solace, Echoes of eternity and their violent recourse…”. For those who haven’t heard it it’s like a chant of one of those ‘Yaka-dura’-Sort of like Witch Doctor. Though they don’t chop of human limbs or make human sacrifices. And what they do is chase devils away and give some kind of mental relief for the sick. Only in harmony and going like the opening of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody (‘Is this the real life…’).
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| The album launch- photo by Natalie Soysa |
Finaly, I mean sadly though the finale - we step into the last track- “March of the Saints”. As the stigies put it it’s their (almost) 12minute ode’ for their fans, those who helped to keep their spine straight in troubled times. This song is somewhat everything included one-big-Orgasm (really, I don’t have any other word). As the title song goes’ the lyrics are like a pre march prep talk. Remember Lieutenant Aldo Ryan from Inglorious Basterds? Yeah that’s the feeling you get. Omit the Yankee accent and it is not WW2 so the words are more hmm metal/Rock. There’s a real crashing 1minute ending to conclude the album. You’ll love that part.
Considering the album whole, it’s magnificent-No, I mean there are no words for it, It’s like Orgasm- you can’t describe it and the only remedy is too feel it. After listening to the ‘Psalms…’ it’s hard to face fact -It’s by the same band that did ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ four years back. Stigmata has experimented and added sounds and beats of traditionality – sounds of Geta-beraya,Conchshell,Thammettam,Udekki and the much familiar Baila beats(Great job by the guy behind those and great ideas Stigs). There are lots of sounds to be heard in this album. More than that, it’s an expansion of rock music. There are people who complain Rock is all about Bashing ‘takaran’(piece of metal-real unpleasant noise),and screaming heads off. This is not such fancy dress charade. This is more musical… damn im out of words fellows. Great art work and album cover concept by Tennyson. It’s not Daemons everywhere, blood splattered here and there, or semi-nude chicks liking lips provocatively (That is the sickest sadistic way of marketing-specially in music that goes around). It’s the shades of yellow against black, shedding light on the unseen.
The word for the first time plungers, skeptics, or those who never listened to rock is - think this not as a Metal album and leave it aside. Take your chance, there’s nothing to be lost listening to this CD, Not even time. Speaking of time (Typing actually, heh-bad joke *cough* *cough*). In whole this album takes really a huge amount of time to dig into. There are the fast catchy ones like ‘Purer’, ‘Summoning cry…’,’March of…’ the rest are really a huge portrait to get your eyes properly fixed in one go. There are more elements in this piece that would leave you gaping. Other than that I better stop here, this note is getting quite a length. I’m really sorry, I wish I could go on,I didn’t cover all the songs 100% whole, but it will get very lengthy and boring to read on. There are lots in these songs to be seized; even I haven’t got all 100% sunk in. All I can say to wind up this lengthy document is – Get the album, put your head’s on and sink in.
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Finaly i would like to give an infinite sorry for Natalie Soysa for using her much hard worked camera shots of stigmata without prior notification. But all credit should go to her role as a camara-man,Uhem..*cough* camera- woman. And Stigmata for the oppertunities met.
