Solo artist Samtar indulges
Samtar is the alternative’s alternative one-man band.
Alone, he indulges, producing burlesque sounds influenced by System of a Down's
Serj Tankian and maybe some Frank Zappa and a little Mike Patton. On Shadow
of the King’s Charade, Samtar's weird renaissance and fantasy vibe
side-steps the parade of sixth-generation Rolling Stones and Black Sabbaths.
The drifting chorus on album opener “The Shadow From
My Dreams” plays to Samtar’s stronger suits—his softer, more restrained vocals
and capacity for vocal melody. Hear it at 55 seconds, then at 2:10, capitalized
at 2:30. (A guitar solo at 2:50 dissolves the moment.) And Samtar demonstrates
his competent falsetto on “Echoes From Across the Sea.”
Although Samtar is not to my taste, I enjoyed sampling
it. That enjoyment peaked with “The Man”; a supple acoustic moves, tells an old
story under an evocative vocal melody. His nice falsetto again turns to
burlesque. The album's best vocal melody comes in the chorus of “You Bleed.”
Here, Samtar’s controlled Serj Tankian-like affectation works in the song’s
favor.
The production on the album limps, though. Especially
the drums. Cymbals rinse away in the background while the drum heads all sound
deadened.
Samtar wrote, recorded, and mixed it himself. Shadow
of the King's Charade was released January 13.
No comments:
Post a Comment