sobota, 6 marca 2010

Fredrik Klingwall - Works Of Woe (2009)


The world of Edgar Allan Poe is one of darkness and of daftness. That be also the case of this new album from one of Sweden's most swift neoclassical composers, which also is an album based upon the tales and poems written by Mr. Poe.

I have a couple of Poe-tributes in my CD collection and I must say that this one stands out as the most voluptuous one, even though it contains no words. Klingwall lets the piano do the talking, and one hell of pianist he is.

The style is nothing but classical piano music, maybe on the more gothic side but no dark ambient or industrial elements here at all.




Poe's sense of intriguing drama, suspense and bleak humour is constantly and perfectly reflected in the tunes, and Fredrik's enthusiasm over the works of this legendary author never fails to shine through the solid and dark piano mist he creates.

However, how lovely and true this album may sound, I personally still have a problem with instrumental music performed on a sole piano. How grand it might be, I think it falls flat after half an hour. Lucky enough I am, that the album's playing time don't stretch much further than 30 minutes then! And tracks like the thundering, pompous "A Dream Within a Dream", the haunting "The Sleeper" and beautiful ones as "The Enigma" and "The Valley of Unrest" are tracks I will for sure bear with me for months to come.

This is an album for you, who enjoys gothic piano music, and appreciates the darker sides of life. No one has captured the spirit of Poe like this before, without using words and that's something worthy of respect.


 

Format: Full-length
Year: 2009
Label: Last Entertiment Productions
Country: Sweden
Genre: Industrial / Gothic / Experimental
Official Website
01. The Sleeper
02. Alone
03. Spirits of the Dead
04. An Enigma
05. The Conqueror Worm
06. The Valley of Unrest
07. The City in the Sea
08. For Annie
09. A Dream within a Dream

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