CoC : Ataraxia - Historiae : Review

Ataraxia - _Historiae_
(Cold Meat Industry, 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz (6 out of 10)

As seems to be their trade, and I presume joy, Cold Meat Industry bestow upon the world another band who are anything but just another (insert music style of latest trend here) band. Ataraxia, who -- according to my press release -- churned out no less than 4 full length albums and one 10" between 1994 and 1996. Now they present us, after a two year break, with a full CD worth of tracks in the style of "ballads from the Middle Ages". Recorded 2/3s in the studio (in the "Autumn Equinox") and 1/3 live at a Medieval Court (in the "Spring Equinox"), _Historiae_ clocks in at nearly 40 minutes and contains 7 out of 9 tracks which are 'original' compositions (the remaining two being "covers" taken from Carl Orff's choral masterpiece _Carmina Burana_). "'Original'", as opposed to "original", because these tracks are, fully admittedly, "based" on "ballads from the Middle Ages", meaning there is no way for a person as uninformed about the music of the Middle Ages as I am to know how much originality the band have injected into these compositions. Suffice to say it is all new to me, and lyrically totally unintelligible being sung in a language (or languages) I am quite unfamiliar with. _Historiae_ has been well composed and produced, and also performed by musicians who are obviously talented. Where the band fail is not in their instrumental skill, but in their inability to break the barrier of my personal taste. Put simply, _Historiae_ is not something I would put on at home out of choice.

(article published 1/10/1998)

ALBUMS
16/3/2007	Q Kalis	8	Ataraxia - Paris Spleen