Album Notes

D'arcana - As Worlds They Rise and Fall 2005

The sophomore follow up to D'arcana's fine self titled debut, As the Worlds Rise & Fall, finds the band continuing with a classic rock sound (Led Zeppelin comes to mind). If you enjoy melody with your progrock and roll then this CD is for you. The song craftsmanship is a strong point for the band. Jay Tausig with his soft vocal approach gives the music a laid back feel to it, but don't let that fool you, when this trio wants to rock out the bands musicianship is excellent. All band members play multiple instruments to add a little more variety to their sound. Overall this is a very good follow up to one of my favorite albums of last year!
NewEARS/Eric 8/3/05


As Worlds They Rise & Fall
D'arcana
For their sophomore effort’s leadoff track, progressive-rock group D’arcana moves through three distinct sections before ending with a reprise of the first. Over the course of “Sunrise,” they call to mind King Crimson’s industrial-melodic “Three of a Perfect Pair,” Pink Floyd’s jaunty “Free Four,” Anthony Phillips’ sentimental “Birdsong” and Thunderclap Newman’s insistent “Something in the Air” – all within the space of five minutes. Which begs the question: If the band can incorporate multiple structures and cover a wide range of influences in a standard-length song, what can they do with a full-blown epic? The answer is the masterfully executed 24-minute title track, which pulls out all the stops and is bold enough to include slide guitar flavors during a few of the movements.

Another song, “Balance,” features some tastefully subtle pedal steel guitar. Not too many prog-rock groups have dared to tackle slide or pedal steel, so D’arcana earns major brownie points here.

Other highlights of the follow-up to their self-titled debut include the instrumental “Lilith,” with its fuzz-tone and acoustic guitars dancing around synth washes and mellotron-like fills; the folkish “Casting Shadows”; “Shimmer,” which salutes the guitar stylings of Steve Hackett and Steve Howe in the same breath; another instrumental, “Waive the Sales” (switch the “W” and “S” to find the title’s true inspiration); and the Charles Bukowski-recited-under-music “Wrong Number” (assimilating the poem “for Al–”).

Peter Hund / GoodNewMusic.com 8/1/05