Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If the words do not exist then at some point they need to be invented, till then the soundtrack to which the maestro performs will always capture the imagination if given the chance to breathe.

It is in the instrumental dance that the words flow, regardless of whether the piece has them in mind or not, for what comes is natural, the voice of electronic or the acoustic will come forth, introduce itself and then finally speak. It is a sentence and a half that spills out of the otherwise silent mouth, that brings forth the answers to the question on just how good a theme can be, especially when it is new, innovative and yet reassuringly and comfortably familiar.

For Echopraxia and the second E.P. Pumpkin Palace, the magic continues unabated, the sound of horror influenced Jazz motif sends thrills down the spine and through the halls of the cinematic and celluloid poise; it is the sound of the creeping pulse suddenly exploded, exploited for all it is worth and then ripped from the soul as if by the monster from under the bed.

The five piece instrumental offering by composer and producer Austin Woodward is a fantastic homage to the great Danny Elfman and his Halloween and Nightmare Before Christmas themed offerings and it is one that is cause for celebration as the time of year comes close at hand where the darkness is sweeping and all consuming and in which the light seems never to want to return.

The five pieces, Ratzinger’s Waltz, Chinkana, Grasp of Malok, Tin Noises and The Holy See are abrasively chilling, harsh and complex but ones that ultimately see the fluid maturity come through with the tenderness of electronic wit and bold complexity.

The homage to Danny Elfman is more than sincere it is an honest and frank appraisal set to the nature of the Halloween period theme, an earnest and productively cool endeavour.

Ian D. Hall