The Burning Circle and Then Dust – Lycia
When I first discovered Lycia, I was unaware that there was a member of the band whose solo work would be so influential to me in my later years. Bassist and keyboard player David Galas (who features quite a few times in this project), vocalist Tara Vanflower and guitarist Mike VanPortfleet gloom their way through just under 2 hours of haunting dark wave in this, the fifth album by the band.
I had no idea that David Galas, an artist who I respect and admire greatly, was a founding member of Lycia, so when I found out I revisited my Lycia albums again. I first came across Lycia when researching what music I might be interested in via a feature on Amazon. This album came up in a recommended list compiled by another Amazon customer and I thought I’d give it a go solely based on their description of the sound.
Lycia has a very unusual style. Long sustained haunting chords with almost inaudible vocals and some excellent bass, which, on reflection, is quite clearly recognisable as David Galas. Think Fields of Nephilim only darker. This is the kind of music you would probably want to listen to driving across the desert or moors at night. Perhaps when you have a headache and are feeling pretty down on things. Ambient experimental Darkwave. Haunting you. Doing things to your mind.
Totally recommended, highly appreciated, Burning Circle and Then Dust is possibly one of the most unrecognised acoustic masterpieces of the noughties.
Stegzy's Music Project 
[…] previously with Lycia, released a number of albums between 2007 and 2011 and Cataclysm was the first of his solo […]
[…] Galas, VanFlower and VanPortfleet reunite once more for another album to follow the successful Burning Circle and Then Dust. […]