(Note: I’ve added a link to a live review I found, as well as lyrics in this post)
Butcher is Sasha Popovic, Camella Grace, and Alex Menck. Their first album, Auricle just came out a few weeks ago on Air in Motion Records. In addition to the five tracks they wrote, it also offers a pair of songs written by Blair MacKenzie Blake, and a video for Elements of Turandot directed by Camella Grace.
This is something like a review of Auricle.
First and foremost this album has a proper original feel to it, spit and polished it erupts at times, and then pulls back to give you a chance to recover, this is sometimes called a game of cat and mouse. The artwork, as should be expected from the artists involved, provokes hesitation in me. It is confrontational, but also very serene, very matter of fact, calming, and accepting.
Black Dahlia >> This is the longest track to be found on Auricle. It is a very emotional (not emo) song involving beautiful pianos and powerful lyrics that are directed at a murder, of which “Black Dahlia” is the victim. “Black Dahlia” (Elizabeth Short) was murdered, cut in half and mutilated, and found on January 15, 1947 in Hollywood where she was visiting at the time. The murder was never solved, but certain aspects of her life and death contribute to Los Angeles’ reputation as a failed, broken, sick excuse for the American Dream. In a particular sense, the explication of this song might lead one to believe it is also a metaphor for the dreams of individuals who venture to that altar in search of the grail of fame and fortune in the entertainment industry.
Elements of Turandot >> Again, beautiful sounds grace us with this song, but it stands out for its juxtaposition of the song with faint whispers, and at a few points coincide with the lyrics being sung. There is a video included on the CD for this track. It is, again, directed by Camella Grace. Given her experience in film, she sets a beautiful watermark for her future efforts with this. I am not familiar with the opera by the title Turandot but it would stand to reason this song relates to it.
Cold >> This track is not listed on the back of the album, nor are the lyrics included (the other songs do have their lyrics included); the credits are, however, included in the liner notes. A long instrumental build up for about the first five minutes of the song deliver us to a fitful end of the album. The lyrical focus seems to be on a death, possibly the Black Dahlia murder from the first track. Cold also utilizes justaposition, this time between the long instrumental march to the lyrical segment that ends it, as well as soft-sung lyrics broken up by high, long-held banshee wails (okay, anachronistic banshee wails).
I feel very glad to have heard this album. It is such a joyful departure from what you inheret from the mainstream, that its morose lyrics are not seen as despair, but instead a charged expression of remorse with the intent of action to reclaim the fallen, in spirit anyway.