Sometimes we receive quite interesting releases for review, and this time we got a rather ambiguous album — in terms of its conceptual content — from the American one-man project BABYLON MYSTERY ORCHESTRA. But let's take things in order.
As I gathered from the press materials, this is a Christian gothic rock act with elements of hard'n'heavy. As for the conceptual content, at first glance this album appears to be a typical representative of Christian rock, with certain proselytizing tendencies. But if you look more closely at the lyrics, you can see that while this person does celebrate biblical stories and legends, he also harshly criticizes the modern church, with its corrupt pedophile priests and wealthy bishops.
Let's set the meaning aside and turn to the musical side of things. The high professionalism of the musician (his name is Sidney Allen Johnson) deserves recognition — the playing is top-notch! The beautiful acoustic guitar passages and excellent electric guitar solos deserve special mention. The compositions Holy Ghost and I, Lucifer are the most impressive. In terms of overall musical concept, BABYLON MYSTERY ORCHESTRA most closely resembles THE FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM and THE CURE.
The disc's packaging also deserves special mention in this review — a thick 10-page booklet with excellent artwork.
The recording quality is simply ideal — all instruments are clearly and beautifully audible. On this point, it scores top marks!
I recommend this disc to everyone without exception — unless, of course, you are a staunch opponent of the Christian religion.