Djam Karet
New Dark Age

Cuneiform    Rune 149  (2001)

Rock/Pop
CD, 10   Tracks, 55:32  Length
01 No Man's Land Djam Karet 04:43
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
02 Eclipse Of Faith Djam Karet 02:43
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
03 Web Of Medea Djam Karet 07:04
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
04 Demon Train Djam Karet 02:56
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
05 All Clear Djam Karet 08:31
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
06 Raising Orpheus Djam Karet 06:56
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
07 Kali's Indifference Djam Karet 02:28
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
08 Alone With The River Man Djam Karet 08:03
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
09 Going Home Djam Karet 09:55
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
10 Eulogy Djam Karet 02:13
✷  Recording Date   2001  ✷ 
Music Details
Product Details
Packaging Jewel Case
Spars DDD
Sound Stereo
Musicians  &  Credits
Guitar Gayle Ellett
Guitar Mike Henderson
Drums Chuck Jr. Oken
Bass Henry J. Osborne
Musician Djam Karet
Producer Djam Karet
Cover by Bill Ellsworth
Personal Details
Index # 940
Owner Dave
Tags Prog Rock
User Defined
Purchased New
Notes
Four years after their last studio album, Djam Karet released New Dark Age in April 2001. In the meantime Cuneiform Records had reissued most of their out-of-print catalog, helping build anticipation. Well, this one was worth waiting for. The quartet (still Gayle Ellett and Mike Henderson on guitars and keyboards, Henry J. Osborne on bass, and Chuck Owen, Jr. on drums) picked up where it left with the 1997 CD The Devouring and beautifully developed its sound, pushing it to another level. Of course the electric guitars remain at the center of the music, but one can hear more Middle Eastern influences, textural acoustic guitar backgrounds, and most of all field recordings. The latter element eliminates the "jam band" stamp some critics have tried to impose. New Dark Age is a studio album conceived by a studio band: tracks segue one into the other, atmospheres are established and broken, and the musicians toy with the listeners, steering them into different directions throughout this aural journey. Is this progressive rock? Does it really matter? Influences from King Crimson are still distinguishable, but they have been so well-assimilated now they seem to have no relation with what was heard on the band's first album, The Ritual Continues. Some rhythm patterns have progressive-like complexity, but the band's art resides mostly in its inside-outside soloing and attention to atmospheres. The acoustic textures of "Alone With the River Man" will please any fan of good instrumental music, prog or no prog. There are also plenty of hard rock moments such as "No Man's Land" and "All Clear." On New Dark Age, Djam Karet has finally reached the perfect integration of the two aspects of its music: rock jamming and ambient soundscapes. This stage is called maturity. Strongly recommended. -- François Couture (allmusic.com)