SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ASTRAL CLOUD ASHES – DEAR ABSENTEE CREATOR

Astral Cloud Ashes
Dear Absentee Creator
Independent

Astral Cloud Ashes is the brainchild of Antony Walker and his latest release, entitled Dear Absentee Creator, is a testament to his understanding of melody as well as song structure. Each track is a journey within itself and they all come together to act like chapters in an epic of an album, sonically speaking. Yet, while the record is built off a solid musical base, the poetry falls short in aiding the listening experience. The result is an album which is interesting and emotional but is one ingredient short of being a masterpiece.

Musically, one would have a hard time finding a problem with Dear Absentee Creator. The guitars sound gorgeous and the chosen effects work perfectly with each part of each song. The bass often steps out in the mix to be not only felt but heard. The drums find a perfect middle ground, never becoming overly dull or irritating. However, the most impressive aspect of these songs is that each one is a winding road. The dynamism is truly impressive. These are tunes on par with My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade in terms of storytelling via noise.

When it comes to lyrics, Dear Absentee Creator fails to match the quality of the music. Walker’s style is in the vein of Tom Delonge’s work in Blink-182, which is a much better fit for jocular songs. The nasal nature of Walker’s voice makes each line sound histrionic and hard to take seriously. While there is a vague Japanese theme on the record which can be appreciated, most of the poetry is the standard emo fare. There is hardly ever a question as to how Walker is feeling throughout the album because he constantly tells the listener directly, as opposed to using crafty language to paint a picture and letting them figure it out for themselves.

Dear Absentee Creator is worth more than a few play throughs. The music will evoke a wide range of emotion and when each song works together like scenes to make a musical movie. The lyrics on the other hand leave a lot to be desired and may turn some listeners off from the get go.  Dear Absentee Creator plays like a foul ball which would have been a home run with a slight tweak of the swing. Astral Cloud Ashes’ future looks incredibly bright, and as long as Antony Walker keeps his sights set high, we can expect more quality work from him.

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