EWIGKEIT „Conspiritus”

Music: Avantgarde/Heavy Rock/Prog/World
Country: England
Website: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/deathtomusic/ewigindex.htm
Duration: 45.45


Cool Songs: It’s Not Reality, The Nightmare Institution, Transcend The Senses, The Thought Police.

One man projects are always fraught with danger. Either they’re too self indulgent and as a result alienate a majority of the market or conversely, they just don’t have the cohesiveness and song writing strength that a full band can offer. James Fogarty (aka Mr.Fog) doesn’t believe in any of this. Having tired of playing in bands – his most notable involvement being ‘The Meads of Asphodel’ – the Fogman put together a solo project under the name of ‘Ewigkeit’. What an interesting little project it is too.

Pronounced ‘Evy-Kite’ (German for ‘eternity’), Fogarty’s first efforts dabbled in simplistic black metal (1997’s ‘Battle Furies’). Following this we witnessed a move to orchestral ambience (1999’s ‘Starscape’), to 70’s Space Rock (2001’s ‘Land of Fog’) and to electronic world-dance music (2004’s ‘Radio Ixtlan’). Each album has its moments, but clearly much of it walked an unconventional path, an ‘acquired taste’ if you will. With such an eclectic combination of styles being explored over his last four albums, the prospect of listening to ‘Conspiritus’ was always going to be quite daunting. Expecting the unexpected is the best way of approaching this one.

While I still view one man projects as inherently self indulgent, it is clear from the strength of ‘Conspiritus’ that Mr.Fog’s Ewigkeit is one of the more convincing. There is still a fair degree of eclectic ‘out there’ material on ‘Conspiritus’, however as a comparison to Ewigkeit’s earlier material, in terms of songwriting and general atmosphere, this is a decidedly streamlined and far more focused album. This is a very good thing. It is also notable that Mr.Fog hasn’t exactly made a giant leap in another musical direction as per every other album. And while the death/black elements appear to completely removed, most of ‘Conspiritus’ dabbles in the 70’s space rock, avantgarde prog metal, sample based meets Euro dance elements of his last two albums, albeit compacted into a much more tuneful and melodically driven package (the modern sheen of the production mix from John Fryer has much to do with this also). For me, this is easily Ewigkeit’s most listenable, consistent and accessible album yet. Oh, it’s far from threatening any sort of commercial success, but there seems to be a slight reduction in the more bizarre, left field elements of yore.

If you want specific links for a more concrete comparison you’d do well to consider a hybrid mix of classic 70’s Hawkwind meets Pink Floyd/Anathema, the political rumble of Killing Joke, the Gothic vibe of The Sisters of Mercy meets Massive Attack/Prodigy/KLF dance beats. There’s a shit load of other likeminded acts you could justify but I think you get the picture. But a straight up metal album this most certainly isn’t. Still challenging as it is, ‘Conspiritus’ is a much more guitar ‘rock’ oriented album than you might believe.

As with most Ewigkeit product, Mr.Fog has been sure to include an conceptual ‘angle’ to this new album. The title is perhaps a hint to what it’s all about, but if you own ‘Radio Ixtlan’ you would have noticed in the inlay cover of the album were eight books listed as suggested reading. One of those (David Icke – And The truth Shall Set You Free) was a deliberate pointer to the next album’s concept; Conspiracy. Thus we get ‘Conspiritus’ – “an analysis of a hypothetical reality in which the world is controlled and manipulated by shadowy figures hiding behind multi-national corporations, the media machine, international banks and the global military who will stop at nothing to reach their goal of a united world under a fascistic totalitarian government. It is a trip through a paranoid reality where everything you do, see, feel & believe is watched and controlled”. It’s all deep and confronting material (even in the absence of lyrics on my promo copy) and gives the album a nice conceptual flow throughout. The clincher here is that it is a ‘hypothetical reality’, but for all intents & purposes, it is designed to get you to ponder and ask questions about Global politics. As someone recently posed to Mr.Fog himself “None of this is real, but all of it is probably true”. I like that.

‘Conspiritus’ is easily Ewigkeit’s strongest album. It has all of the eclectic influences and noises that marked Fog’s previous material, however this time there is a more streamlined flow to the whole album. The production is a major coup – giving ‘Conspiritus’ a very slick and professional sound, Fog’s vocals are more impassioned and melodic and the song writing far more considered and convincing. This is a one man project that works. For those that are after something a bit more edgy and experimental in their music.

note: 8/10

Tracklist

Intro — The Hypothesis
It’s Not Reality
Square Sunrise
The Nightmare Institution
Dar Away From Heaven
Transcend The Senses
The Thought Police
How To Conquer The World (Live At The Bohemian 5rove)
Theoreality
Conspiritus