From The Record Shelf: It Ain't Walking On Egg Shells, These Shels Bring The Noise...

And now for something completely different...I haven't indulged much in heavy music around here, mainly because it isn't my favorite genre. I mean, I dipped a bit into hard rock and heavy metal as a teenager, but really only a bit. Heavy prog or prog metal is definitely not a genre that I would have bet on being interested in when I was younger, mainly because what prog I heard, mostly from my dad getting a nostalgia vibe from time to time, putting on stuff like An Electronic Mass from Spooy Tooth with Pierre Henry, and then getting yelled at by my mom who aske for the noise to cease. The other reason why I wasn't into prog is that I'm a lyrics guy and that I'm not big into jams and everything jam-like. When push comes to shove, I'll take a singer-songwriter and his or her acoustic guitar. 

But it was a kind of boredom with that kind of music that finally drove me to check out prog rock. I was continuing to collect my Lucinda Williamses and Ryan Adamses, but at some point you've pretty much heard it all in the genre. So, I randomly picked up the BugglYes version of Yes and went from there. The fact that Drama, my first foray into prog, was verging on Heavy prog on tracks like "Machine Messiah" probably set me on the rails that lead us to our One Buck Record of the day. 

Boy, aren't we mysterious...

I didn't know anthing about *shels when I fished Sea Of The Dying Dhow out of a bargain bin somewhere. I don't even know what got me to pick it up, the art and song titles didn't really point to something in my wheelhouse. Maybe the hype sticker on the front that promised "a new and beautiful journey" pushed me, or I was just feeling adventurous that day. Anyway, The Sea Of The Dying Dhow is an album that I like, almost despite myself and my declared proclivities. The longer pieces alternate between melodic sections and sudden eruptions of noise. The music is both melodious and crunchy, the guitars can get really heavy at times, but Shels know how to not overdo it.   

*shels was formed as a follow-up project to British experimental hardcore band Mahumodo by their mastermind Mehdi Safa. Lyrics aren't a great concern and Sahfa is just an okay singer, which in turn also means none of the sometimes exagerrated and operatic vocal antics endemic to prog rock. In the end, it doesn't matter much , as about 80% of the album is instrumental, where *shels are more interested in the ebb and flow of their soundscapes than any traditional song structures. At times I'm reminded of some of the music by Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree that I like.

In case you were wondering what the hell a dhow is...

So, friends and neighbours, are you ready for something a little out of my wheelhouse? Or yours? I am whenever you are. No need to go down to the beach, let's listen to some *shels right now...