Tarantula A.D. – Book of Sand (Kemado Records, 2005)
The first full-length recording from Tarantula A.D. is constructed in a manner that most reading this will find pretentious at the very least. Those people are probably right. Even if one was to simply judge this release by the art work displayed on the front insert, the same conclusion would be reached. In the construction of this album, Tarantula A.D. has recounted the rise and fall of an empire through song titles relating to mostly instrumental work. There are guests that contribute vocals, but there aren’t words coming from Inouk front man or from Devendra Banhart, who for some reason is generally regarded highly, but just moans to accompany the music. The sounds on the first track, song titles and cover art fooled me into thinking there would be a good amount of metal on this release, but I was wrong. Only does the band sporadically lurch into metal gear, choosing mostly to create airy, piano focused ambient sounds. The vast majority of this could and mostly likely should be contributed to film scores. Either way, the band is focused and well rehearsed. Stalwart standout, “Palo Borracho” includes classical sounding guitar along with a melodica and percussion to create a rather Latin tinged track. Unfortunately, the album ends with Banhart warbling his Marc Bolan impression and concluding an otherwise impressive album.
