It is rare that I do a review of an album without receiving a physical copy of the release, and lord knows I receive enough email promos from promoters, publicity agents, bands and other music hustlers. Most of them aren't even in the genres Chain D.L.K. covers, but this one qualifies. The Holy Sun Opera House is not an opera company or a cult religious organization, but rather a music project consisting of classically trained soprano and drummer Krissy Barker and composer dl Salo, out of Los Angeles. Together they weave symphonic synths and operatic vocals with heavy drums. What got me was the publicist/promotor's FFO: early Dead Can Dance, Fever Ray, Klaus Nomi. Forgive my ignorance but I have no idea who Fever Ray is, so I watched a few of their videos. Interesting experimental music both sonically and visually out of Sweden with a pretty good following, but this review is not about Fever Ray so check them out on your own time. Just looking for a frame of reference here and I got one.

The album consists of nine tracks and according to info on the duo's Bandcamp site, "The self-produced album was conceptualized as a way to describe an obsessive mind with music and inspired by the recurring dreams of singer Krissy Barker. In it is a realm of shifting rooms, dilapidated houses and passages. These unsettled rooms and spaces pose a striking confrontation of fear and anxiety from deep within." Fair enough. Opening track, "Voice of Gob" sounds heavily gothic from the get-go; heavy orchestrated synth strings with Krissy's angelic voice emerging. It's slow and stately with a simple but effective melody, and they use a real choir for backing vocals. Nice! "Passage II" is sort of an experimental drone piece of cake with operatic voice icing. The singing on "Latched On" is more pop than opera at first but once the orchestration comes in it turns operatic, quite dolorous over all. The title of the next track, "Decrepit Mansion" may seem on the nose (like something off a Halloween sound effects album) but the 3 lines of lyrics sung repeatedly in rounds has nothing to do with decrepit mansions or haunted houses, but about things one does not normally notice. Rather cool in its own way. Has anyone seen or heard the "Witch in the Attic" ? I knew there was someone there, breathing heavily at night while I'm trying to sleep, invading my dreams and turning them into nightmares. The track is a percussion-less dreamscape transitionally leading into "The Attic." The orchestration here is full-on and may remind you somewhat of early Dead Can Dance, Arcana, Gitane DeMone or even Diamanda Galas. Krissy's vibrato is intense and the music is gothic as fuck.

The penultimate song on the album is "Room That Wasn't There Before, " a cool cross between pop and opera with a very memorable melody. My only complaint about it is that the rhythm track is severely buried beneath the orchestration. A remix of this one is sorely needed. With only two tracks left, the tail of the previous slides smoothly into "Passage I" (odd that it comes after "Passage II"), another kind of orchestral ambient drone piece using cathedral-like chord progressions, which I suppose echoes the "Holy Sun" part of the group's name. Finally, there is "Room with the Rain," sung throughout in the operatic mode with a dirgy pace and symphonic orchestration. Not nearly as compelling as "Room That Wasn't There Before " but atmospherically poignant nevertheless. The Holy Sun Opera House is absolutely a project worth checking out. In spite of a few minor flaws (namely, more oomph in the percussion/rhythm department) this album holds up very well, especially for fans of the non-pop-rock gothic. (In days gone by labels such as 4AD, World Serpent or Cold Meat Industry would have signed this act in a heartbeat.) The Holy Sun Opera House is likely to appeal more to European audiences than U.S. listeners but don't let that dissuade you. There aren't many operatic rock outfits out there as a Google search will attest. (Try it; you'll get only mediocre results such as The Who's 'Tommy' and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody.") With the full complement of media options available (LP, CD, cassette, digital) you have no reason not to go for it.