Turner’s initial vocalisations are not too incongruent, and then he starts singing (or growling, if you prefer), and it’s like listening to two different songs playing at the same time. And yet….Ħ begins with the fantastic beat of Path Eternal, and swathes of melodic synth textures. Furthermore, Turner is no stranger to Krautrock and electronica, and has stated that both forms of music were influential in the sound of Isis (probably his most famous band), so it should make sense that he is happy to put his vocals to Pharaoh Overlord, who quite obviously enjoy Krautrock and electronica themselves. As well as working with Pharaoh Overlord previously, Aaron Turner has also collaborated with Tomi Leppänen and Jussi Lehtisalo in Split Cranium. Even after listening to the album several times, my mind is still melting, trying to get my head around the two quite disparate sounds. What I was worried about was how well the music of Pharaoh Overlord and the vocals of Aaron Turner might mesh when they formed the basis of the album, rather than a small part. In addition, I loved 5, and I didn’t mind Turner’s vocals on that either – but they were used minimally for impact, rather than being a main attraction, so to speak. (In 2015, just to further confuse things, Circle released an album called Pharaoh Overlord, while Pharaoh Overlord released an album called Circle.) As to my reservations, they came largely from knowing that Aaron Turner (Isis, Sumac, Old Man Gloom and several other bands) was taking a larger role, having provided some sparse guest vocals to the previous album, 5 (which I think may actually be Pharaoh Overlord’s 10 th studio album, and 15 th overall!).ĭon’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike Aaron Turner’s vocals (and this year’s Sumac album is absolutely fantastic, I highly recommend it). The band is one of Jussi Lehtisalo’s many offshoots of Finnish band Circle (who themselves have probably released upwards of 50 full length albums by now), and has changed in sound considerably since their first release – while somewhat paradoxically keeping much of it, too. Pharaoh Overlord have a larger discography than the title of their latest release might suggest, and that discography is quite varied. I came to this album with some reservations.
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