"Murder, Mystery, Mayhem" - a concept CD in the grandest sense...
author: Tony Stasiek
The Facts: "Murder, Mystery, Mayhem" is a concept CD in the grandest sense, detailing mining-moon owner Trevor Braiden's (played by composer Andrew Engstrom) trip to the planet Volitar in the year 2117, a GWAR-informed monster named Enox (also Engstrom), nitranium ore sex and an entendre-spewing romantic interest. Think somewhere between Dio's "Magica" and Cloven Hoof's "Dominator." Partially operating on state and city grants, Engstrom took 3Þ years and nine helpers to create a dialogue-heavy prog-rock opera, with each track intended to mimic a different genre. Oh, and Volitar is from Juneau, Alaska (we're the closest CD-review source, Engstrom says).
Highlights: "Faces," which sounds like Public Image Limited inside the Star Wars cantina; the dead-on sound effects that indicate a spaceship liftoff as well as cryogenic freezing; and the line, "It is amazing what you've done to this old theater, transporting it from 1942 France and turning it into Volitar's hottest night club. Congratulations to you."
Right back atcha.
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Volitar - A massive undertaking impressively accomplished.
author: Joel Reynolds
(AK Artist) Volitar - "Murder, Mystery, Mayhem"
Art opens you up to new vistas of what is creatively possible - be it in terms of emotion experiences, materials for manipulation, or modes of production. We all 'understand' that the computer has radically changed music creation and production. But then you encounter something, like Volitar, that makes you REALLY begin to understand. Juneau's Andrew Engstrom, with assistance from Becky Jo Engstrom, has created a whole sci-fi fantasy world, the planet Volitar, with all the history, mystery, intrigue, and big-letter emotions (Love, Greed, Fear,...), you'd expect from a serial publication or movie (one naturally thinks of Star Trek or Star Wars), and turned 'em into 0's and 1's on a CD. The concept album is not new, but I've never heard a movie on CD before. They haven't just inserted dialogue between songs, making speech secondary to music, or vice versa. Rather, it's all here, made into a coherent whole. Music blurs into sound effects and scene settings, which create visual backdrops (in your head) for dialogues and actions (in your head), leading to character and plot development both via speech and songs. A massive undertaking impressively accomplished. Kudos to all involved, and to the arts councils which supported its creation. It will be interesting to see what this evolves into. And what other creations it spawns through example.
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MMM is supremely cool
author: Chris Boyd
Thanks for "The Making of Volitar." I'm very
impressed and think to myself, what an excellent way
to document and detail a career and/or projects.
MMM is supremely cool, I've listened to it about four
times in the past day, and really dig on it. The
trumpet on Deep Freeze makes me feel so elated, I mean
that combination does rock, and I wish there was more
of it. The drumming is excellent too, it's one of
the first things I took note of.
Kudos on the packaging, I like the artwork, and your
photos I like a lot too (complex and hot Doctor Lear!)
and it's nice to have some images for the story, but so
much left up to imagination as well. What a fun and
enjoyeable album.
I appreciate your hard work, and the depth of your
commitment to making your music. I hope to hear more
from Volitar in the future.
Regards,
Chris
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Incredibly impressive piece of work
author: L. Athey
The CD showed up today, incredibly impressive piece of work all the way down to the packaging. To me, it sounds like a mix of Tears For Fears, Pink Floyd (with a much more aggressive guitarist) and Queensryche. There are some things
that I still haven't outgrown, one of those things are bitchin powerful sound systems. So, I had to test out the CD on the stereo in my pickup (my 4WD bass bin) and it about rattled my freakin teeth loose. That's a tell-tale sign of a good drum mix to me... :-)
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