Albums

Hulk - Rise Of A Mystery Tide

Alex Skinner 17/09/2008

Rating: 1/5

Hailing from the green grasses of Ireland, Dublin based artist Hugh 'Hulk' Haugh releases 'Rise Of A Mystery Tide'. Described as an album conceived to reflect the emotions that manifest themselves in our dreams, you get a sense of utter confusion.

Hugh 'Hulk' Haugh states the sound is “Science fiction for the middle ages”. This may confuse you even more as the description continues along these lines. Wait! There is more? What about: 'the music evokes notions of transcendence and soul searching…spacious strings drift and pull together to create…blah, blah, Ambient passages?, blah, blah.

A concept album based around ideas of dreamy emotional states has little appeal. Recordings of the sea being peppered throughout. The sea being connected through dreams as being ever changing and mysterious (if you didn't know).

A step further and the mighty description of where this all takes place sonically: 'somewhere between the lines of conscious and the subconscious.' OOOOooooOOOooooo. 'The Gates of Orion', 'Capricornus', these are apparently muti-layered, polyphonic arrangements. I am lost, and not in a good way.


The project unfortunately falls on its ass. This album chaffs my ass because it is off target. So much that it couldn't hit a Llama's ass with a banjo. It is quite the pain in the (you know what).


To ask what emotional state it leaves you in, hmm: Depleted, dubiously flabbergasted, flummoxed, flustered, foppish, yet overall seemingly ham-fisted affair. Cheer up, it's not all misery. I adored the beautiful art work from French artist Gregoire Dalle. It is well worth a look at the sleeve alone! It is lovely.