Michael Neil Dies Irae (Download CDR) 5 Tracks / 65.12 minutes Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'Ecce Homo') Please go to the Store to buy this item.

The recording of this album started in the same year as 'Cornubia' (1996) and was finished soon after so is really the follow up to that album. We start with the almost half hour long title track (a Mass for the Dead) and it is as impressive a dark brooding breezy start as you could hope for. Ethereal but also sinister washes mix with dynamic crashes. It's as if we are in some evil place where death lurks around every corner. Strings swell but these are not your soft pastoral sort, they are edgy, even apocalyptic. In the ninth minute it's as if rays of light momentarily shine through but these are soon obliterated by heavy bass rumbles punctuated by warning sonic stabs. Things then subside to near silence with just the quietest of ethereal shimmers. These gradually become more prominent giving hope of better times. The strings sounds now take on a more positive feel that will be recognised by fans of 'Cornubia' but still with that faint melancholy edge. Beautiful stuff. More faint angelic touches give a spiritual feel but as these gently float through the speakers mournful sounds come to join them and we again fade to near silence. Ominous strings return, not as dark as earlier maybe but still dripping with anguish nevertheless. Right at the end hope does seem to return but it is an uncertain hope. This is a simply stunning piece of music full of emotion and will paint the most vivid pictures in the mind. There are dynamics aplenty without the need for rhythm and heart rending melody without the need of 'tunes'. A masterpiece.

In comparison 'Ecce Homo' is a rather short track and as with much of Michael's earlier works, has classical leanings. This time however the feeling is of unrestrained joy as the strings swell and break to regroup once more for another triumphant surge. 'The Ninth Hour' takes us back to dark realms. Deep bass surges give a bestial feel to proceedings. Wordless vocal pads make it seem as though the very Gods mourn, becoming increasingly cacophonous in intensity. More wordless choral washes enter and it's as if different elements are communicating with each other through pure tones. String pads take us back to an edgy normality but there is still a hint that not all is well. 'Schnittke 1998' begins with a faint percussive beat, as if someone is knocking on a hatch trying to get out. Piano runs dart this way and that like rats scurrying across the floor until replaced by more dynamic strings. The percussion and piano return to finish. Little crystalline bell chimes strike up getting 'Charis 5' underway. The strings seem to reprise themes and moods from earlier in the album. Little piano runs add to the beautiful delicate nature of the whole piece creating a wonderful euphoric conclusion to a superb album.