Halifax’s Brandon Voyeur is a living, breathing example of why art rock as a genre deserves more prominence. For all the glorious headbangers and road-trip anthems in the world of rock, there’s nothing quite like painting rock music with your own, heavily-saturated creative flair, and that’ just what Voyeur has done in his latest album, Not Dead Yet. This 7-track collection concocts its own, eerily fascinating world, dipping in and out of familiarity without ever forgetting what it is, and is, without a shadow of a doubt, a damn good album.
Half of the album consists of full-length tunes, while the other half consists of some interlude-type recordings no longer than 40 seconds. The latter half of the tunes are deliciously titled “Epitaph for Redemption”, “Epitaph for Remembrance,” and “Epitaph for Rebirth.” More atmospheric than musical, these three epitaphs whisper to you with dark, distorted voices, each of them contemplating their respective themes, centering you as the subject. Couple that with ominously orchestrated guitar strums, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find any rock music as artistically disturbing as this.
“Blood Stained Teeth” is the tamest tune in the album as far as its Gothic themes go, yet also goes a long way in showcasing the high-flying quality of Voyeur’s musical ability. Few tunes can capture whispers of The Tragically Hip so magnificently, and Voyeur manages to do so in this one.
The meat of Voyeur’s sound is found in his last three tracks, “Mental Myths and Urban Legends,” “Limbo,” and the titular “Not Dead Yet.”
“Not Dead Yet,” with its unrelenting bass and echoing quips, opens the album with just a taste of the darkness within the rest of the album; a tantalizing combination of benevolent anger and otherworldly coyness.
The other two tracks take these two ingredients of the titular tune and crank them up into their own creations. “Limbo” is among the lightest of the album’s content, and would be almost relaxing if not for the ghostly effects surrounding each and every lyric. This lends a certain sort of intrigue and suspicion towards an otherwise relaxed-sounding tune, making for a fantastic result.
Finally, “Mental Myths and Urban Legends” pulls no punches in with its intensity. Everything from the instrumentals to the almost-demonic cadence is rife with distortion and danger, making for a darkly enticing listen.
It’s not every day you listen to an album that would fit in at both a Gord Downie Tribute Concert and a haunted house, but if you’re an artist of Brandon Voyeur’s caliber, Not Dead Yet and albums like it could very well find a way their way into every day.