Rails, Witnesses - Forgive Me Sleeper But It's Time To Wake Up

Published Friday 27th May 2016
Rails, Witnesses - Forgive Me Sleeper But It's Time To Wake Up
Rails, Witnesses - Forgive Me Sleeper But It's Time To Wake Up

STYLE: Rock
RATING 6 6 6 6 6 6
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 159622-23566
LABEL: Independent
FORMAT: CD Album

Reviewed by Paul S Ganney

This is a very unusual CD, as you might expect from two Anglican priests describing themselves as "post-hardcore." It's kind of poetry over music, in that it's spoken word with musical backing. But it's not rap - it doesn't have the beats and nor does it have the rhymes. It reminds me more of Stewart Henderson's early stuff or maybe John Cooper Clarke but without the acerbic delivery (or wit, sadly) with "And The Sea Gave Up Its Dead" and "Slow News Day" being reminiscent of Jarvis Cocker's spoken deliveries on Pulp songs. The backing moves from metal (such as the opening "There Are Questions And Answers") through prog-folk (eg, "Hope") and silence ("Just A Moment") but is mostly metal. Generally the style of the backing suits the delivery (if not always the subject matter) and it all comes together on "Over The Hills Beyond The Skies" and "Slow News Day" probably the best, as the vocals start to merge with the backing: both tracks are very different showing the versatility and breadth of the material on offer. Lyrically (and the lyrics are all reproduced on the sleeve which is helpful and probably very important for a CD like this) it inhabits a Christian universe without being overly overt about it. It's an interesting CD, but I'm not sure how many more times I'll listen to it. I think I'd have preferred the vocals sung over this backing (as I did think that was generally very well done, especially the metal).

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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