Unlike their 2000 debut "Inthe Garden of Wild Stars" which featured some traditional arrangementsand excerpts of Alfred Lord Tennyson and W. B. Yates, "Devil" isentirely composed by Bates/Trench. But the poet laureate spirit remainsstrong in Bates precious words and delivery. I often find the music andmix of his projects, especially this one, an annoying obstacle betweenhis wondrous voice and myself. Here it's bothersome with headphones butwithout it works just fine. The ten songs are a pretty, sort ofmystical and medieval folk with acoustic guitars, unidentified drones,flute and tambourine, often drenched in reverb. "Glistening Praise" andthe title track are the lengthiest, the latter over 10 minutes, andthey veer off into valleys of instrumental atmospherics. Near the end"The Hand of Glory" disrupts everything, unfortunately, with a blast ofelectrified guitar noise. But the final track "Plea" placates my ownplea by showcasing only the vocal. At first I didn't think this albumcompared to my favorite Bates work, such as "Dance of Hours" and the"Murder Ballads" and "Chamber Music" series, but it continues to growon me.
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