By Nick Ubels (Online Editor) – Email
For those solely familiar with his work as the founding and only permanent member of lo-fi folk-rock outfit The Mountain Goats, the following statement might register as somewhat of a shock: John Darnielle is (not-so-secretly) a metalhead.
Though you wouldn’t suspect it from listening to his 19+ cassettes and albums released under The Mountain Goats’ moniker since 1991, the prolific singer-songwriter writes a monthly column for Decibel magazine, consistently professes his love for bands such as Megadeath and Celtic Frost in interviews, and has authored a book on Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality for continuum’s outstanding 33 1/3 series.
Thus, when it was announced via The Mountain Goats’ website on December 9 of last year that the band’s forthcoming album would include four tracks produced by death metal guru and former lead guitarist for Morbid Angel, Erik Rutan, some fans wondered whether Darnielle was planning to finally unleash his heavier side à la Ryan Adams’ questionable 2010 sci-fi metal odyssey Orion.
Despite speculation of such a genre-defying leap however, All Eternals Deck does not stray far from the band’s well-travelled alt-folk territory. To be clear, Darnielle and company have much more in common with artists like Daniel Johnston and Paul Simon than contemporary folk acts like Mumford & Sons. The Mountain Goats’ latest record is a logical next step in the band’s progression from 2009’s The Life of the World to Come, maintaining the Biblically-themed album’s polish, minimal elegance, and sparing orchestral flourishes, while shedding much of its carefully exercised restraint and solemn tone.
There is no death metal to speak of, though death certainly continues to be a go-to theme for Darnielle. “Every martyr in this jungle is going to get his wish,” he sings on the chorus of “Estate Sale Sign,” a cathartic, half-shouted rumination on memory, mementos, and mortality that most noticeably resembles the band’s ramshackle pre-2002 recordings.
At 43, Darnielle no longer embodies the wild and unrestrained youthful anxiety expressed on his first cassettes. Instead, the aging songwriter has found a way to channel all of that passion into an eerily laid-back package not unlike Leonard Cohen. On All Eternals Deck, his sharp yet impressionistic lyrics paint vivid and stirring portraits of Hollywood decadence, vampires, and fortune tellers. He equates the camera with a crystal ball on “Birth of Serpents,” connecting the timeless capture of the past in film with a vision of an unavoidable future. The title of the album itself refers to a deck of tarot cards and the connection between film and foreknowledge imbues lines like, “bring back some blurry pictures to remember all your darker moments by,” with an underlying sense of dread.
Many of the songs are set in Southern California, but don’t expect sunny paeans to the Golden State. On the terrific and contemplative album closer “Liza Forever Minelli,” Darnielle throws in some unexpected humour with the line, “Anyone who mentions ‘Hotel California’ here dies before the first line clears his lips.”
The production on All Eternals Deck, shared by the aforementioned Erik Rutan and three others, is immaculate and carefully measured. There is no hint of The Mountain Goats’ incredibly lo-fi roots in the early 90’s, when Darnielle recorded entire albums using only a boom box microphone. On their latest record, minimal overdubs, including string arrangements and even the cartoonish backing vocals on “High Hawk Season,” somehow seem to fit perfectly into place, a testament to the versatility of Darnielle’s song writing.
The vocals consistently sit defiantly upfront in the mix. Darnielle’s disarmingly earnest and often unorthodox delivery conveys a thrilling uncertainty about where each song is headed, making the lyrics seem off the cuff and producing an undeniable sense of discovery that persists throughout the album. There is an almost uncomfortable intimacy to this record that allows the listener to unwittingly identify with the singer’s exploration of darker subject matter.
Despite the compelling tension between Darnielle’s cutting lyrics and All Eternal Deck’s often menacingly quiet arrangements, tracks 9 through 12 begin to drag slightly before the band rallies back for “Liza Minelli Forever.” The album’s penultimate track “Never Quite Free,” is a recovery song that verges dangerously close to cloying, but ultimately redeems itself with a gorgeous slide guitar solo one minute in.
Aside from these few minor missteps, All Eternals Deck is a highly literate, varied, and compelling record that reveals its full complexity and beauty after multiple well-earned listens.
