Soul Drift

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Regular readers of Soul Drift will know that Illuminatus were one of the local bands I took a shine to when I was at University. I think they are a fantastic live band, but I’d not heard any (good quality) studio versions of songs until now. Recently I have been loving Spotify, and I think it is great that the band have put their brand new EP on it to stream.

The EP has to be one of the most beautiful pieces I have heard in a long time, and I love the way that the artwork compliments the music perfectly (check out their MySpace to see the full piece). All three of the main songs are atmospheric and epic, which evoke strong emotions on every listen. You get your money’s worth as well, since all four tracks are over five minutes long. My favourite on the EP is without a doubt the title track. That’s not to say the others aren’t brilliant, but ‘The Rising Tide’ captured my heart when I first heard it live. The intro and the soundscapes throughout, accompanied by Julio Taylor’s harrowing screams, never fails to give me goosebumps. It is an incredibly powerful track and I believe it is the band’s masterpiece.

The EP ends with an amazing acoustic version of ‘Wargasm’, which first appeared on their Aborted Revolutions EP in 2005 (which is also available to hear on Spotify). It has a certain Spanish feel to it and really shows off Julio Taylor’s vocal talents.

Overall the EP is beautiful and brutal, thought-provoking and meaningful. I highly recommend it! As I mentioned above, you can stream the EP on Spotify but you can purchase it on iTunes and other digital download sites, or you can buy the limited edition CD version from the band’s official webstore.

MySpace