While it is not quite a return to form for Rasputina, Oh Perilous World is a step back in the right direction. I know that the overly goth trappings of the group might not be everyone's cup of tea but I have always had a soft spot for Melora Creager's group. This sixth album sees Rasputina move further from the dark chamber music of their earlier releases. The songs are linked by a rough concept which makes the album feel, for better and for worse, like an eccentric Broadway musical.
Creager's songs are all based on the world's recent troubled history but transposing the events back to 1816, tying them in with a story of a Floridian queen who goes to war in a blimp. It is not the world’s greatest plot but it at least leads to some nice songs. "1816, The Year without a Summer" is a grand introduction to the album and some clunky lyrics aside, heralds a return to form for Rasputina. The album's strength and at times, also its weakness, is Creager's acting via singing. For most of the album it works well. "Child Soldier Rebellion" takes on the stories of Africa's child militia and adds in bizarre imagery of airships. Instead of cheapening the harrowing images of child soldiers, it reinforces the horror of the situation. Unfortunately Creager sometimes has too hard tried to work the concept into a song and it all goes a little Andrew Lloyd Webber such as on (the thankfully short) "Old Yellowcake Breaking News."
Although the cello is still the primary instrument employed by the group, Rasputina are moving further and further away from the Victorian chamber group that they started as. Mixing more styles and influences with each album has led to mixed results. Each of their most recent albums (and Oh Perilous World is no exception) has been patchy: cracks appearing especially where there is a more straightforward rock approach to the sound. One particular peeve I have with the music here is Jonathan TeBeest's metronomic drumming. While he provides a robust rhythmical base, he lacks expression. Luckily cellos are naturally very expressive and they counteract his somewhat clinical drumming.
Overall, Oh Perilous World is not the best album released by Rasputina but it is not terrible by any means. I accept there are only so many spooky goth albums you can do before imploding but I wonder how much steam there is left in Rasputina at this point in their career. Granted, a lot of the songs included here are fairly strong compared to those on their last album, Frustration Plantation, but the cracks that have appeared in the last few years have not been filled. The group flounders too often on these last couple of albums to make me have faith in them for much longer.
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