Arbouretum
Song Of The Pearl

The seriousness of the long black beards that adorn the proud chins of Arbouretum seems to warn us about the gravity of the operation: doom folk they have called it. One should ask Dave Heumann, the person behind the group’s façade, what he thinks about this definition.

And what if we let the music speak? Dave concludes this record by rewriting in his melancholic mood the Dylan song "Tomorrow is a Long Time", garnishing it with sonic blasts of guitar connected with reinforced cabling to the amplification. His concept of folk starts with melody but everything transforms into a lysergic vision that brushes the threshold of noise. The bitter sweetness of "Down Fall the Line" brings to mind spectres of seventies British folk groups. They stagger high along the banks of a cold river in the land of Albion and get lost in the black-and-white fog crossing Dave's reverberated voice... in a moment the magic of the arpeggio melts into the ferocity of distorted guitars.

The same ones that slice the opener "False Spring" in half: acid slashes that do the heart good: electric folk, psychedelia... Neil Young & Crazy Horse!?! The confirmation comes from "Another Hiding Place" and its bass & drums progression in the style of "Harvest", perhaps the highest moment of the record (along with the bold "Thin Domination") with that southern style refrain and the guitars of Dave and Steve Strohmeier as the rock propellant of the Baltimore band. Sometimes even Dave ("The Midnight City") brings to mind the tones of Warren Zevon (God bless him) in creating a palpable tension that finds no outlet.

Compared to the excellent "Rites Of Uncovering", it seems that in 2009 Heumann finally understood he was dealing with a rock band and a little less with his personal ghosts. "Song of the Pearl" will thus appear more direct and perhaps for this reason it might please more or less. For example, the riffs of "Infinite Corridors" cross the skies traversed by the Zeppelin, maybe you expect Robert Plant's shrill voice to soar on the airship but then it’s always Dave’s folk timbre that brings everything back to mother earth.

It’s no coincidence they are called Arbouretum.