The Black Labyrinth

 

The Black Labyrinth {1st impressions review by Thornswrath} 

|2 & 1/2 years overdue: Written on May 31st, 2018 ~ six days after the album dropped

   Jonathan Davis strikes back with a vengeance, I'll say. Today [circa: May, 2018] I listened to The Black Labyrinth for probably the ninth time. This is an album whose legendary status transcends even that of time itself.

   It's the apotheosis of everything I ever loved about Jonathan's artistry, boiled down into one defiant concept album. One of its brilliant aspects is that the concept isn't a storyline with characters, but rather a thematic presentation of the singer's experiences in real life striving to be an individual and retain his sanity in a very dark world that would otherwise compel him into its cult of the masses or drive him completely insane. The music of these thirteen songs ranges from new wave post punk to world gothic, which really lends it the cutting edge necessary to separate it from most other commercial music out there on the airwaves. It really does take a sincere devotion as a listener to pick out all the lyrics from Jon's impassioned singing, and just as it's ever been since his original band's inception a quarter of a century ago, the vivid emotional scenes grab you by the throat and won't let go until the final decaying note.

   What we have here are thirteen songs which explore very different sonic terrains and styles. What I find particularly amazing is how every last song stands up on its own merit. This album fits somewhere on a lost alternative timeline within the same range as Bauhaus, Peter Murphy, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Nine Inch Nails, and most surprising of all, yes the world music of Peter Gabriel. (One of the reasons for this, of course, is that Shenkar, who actually played with Peter Gabriel, lends some of his otherwordly violin playing talent in addition to his bewitching middle eastern vocals to some of the tracks.) Not to mention there are some tabla drum sequences that really take the listener on an extended journey during some key songs.

   Simply put, Jonathan Davis exists at the heart of a deep inner echelon that represents the best and most intense alternative rock music on the planet for me, period. What makes it so wonderful is that it doesn't matter a hill of beans whether anyone else gets it or not. I consider him the pinnacle of outsider, anti-establishment rock'n'roll and an icon in the field that towers above his contemporaries to rub shoulders with other legends that came before him (like David Bowie or Robert Plant, for example). He's in good company with the best of the best, as far as I'm concerned, and a lot of it has to do with his undying devotion to exposing his bare soul in all its ugly twisted honesty and beautiful truth. David Stoupakis, the NYC artist which rendered the artwork for the cover of this album, has one-hundred-percent nailed the essence of the man himself. I now think of him as Saint Jon the Infernal (the savior of rock'n'roll). Without a doubt, Jonathan Davis is my patron saint for the legion of dispossessed, today.

   The Black Labyrinth should satisfy any fan of the aforementioned 80s punk/goth subculture, if they'd only give it the chance it deserves. But hey--as I've already implied here--if they don't bother to, it's their loss, honestly and truly. Although I used to want to share the glory of this music with everyone, these days I'm more grateful for the sneering ridicule and casual dismissal I more often than not get from peeps, because honestly it leaves me with the sensation that this is something special, for my ears and soul only, and to be truthful it's pretty gratifying knowing I sort of get to keep this all to myself. (Nevermind the worldwide fanbase that continues to grow, and occasionally sheds, listeners.) I get "growing out of" certain bands or types of music. It takes a special sort of individual, with arrested development or otherwise, to steep themselves in this sort of extreme mode of expression. How much longer can one identify with defiant teenage angst, right? I myself identify with the spirit of Korn and especially Jonathan's iconoclastic outlook to the point I'm happy to be an acolyte in support of his anti-establishment legacy. He's also got a killer vocal style unlike any other I've ever really encountered. Turns out his lyrics, always revisiting the same corrupted and well-tilled terrain, have evolved to a fertile place that continues growing the blackest and most alluring flowers. This is a melodic narcotic I am completely hooked on.

   The best music, for me, has always been difficult to appreciate on first listens. Conversely, the stuff that immediately grabs my attention, more often than not, ends up leaving my interest just as quickly as it came. Not this album. I have to admit, that at first, there was a modicum of resistance on my behalf, as I listened to tracks whose apparent differences seemed mitigated by a sort of homogenized production, resulting in the illusion that it all sounded more or less the same. This was especially evident in the 30-second clips of every track which served as the "trailer" for the album, before it's release. Although I liked certain aspects of these clips, the nagging suspicion that they all sounded too much alike kept bugging me. The miraculous thing about the album is that only after six, seven, eight, and now nine listens, has it become altogether obvious that each track is startlingly different than the next, yet they do all manage to blend together into a cohesive whole (just like the best albums should). This becomes more and more apparent with every listen. I've also been able to figure out that the best thing about this album is the uncanny fact that what it has to offer isn't just one or two tracks, generally accepted as being fan-favorites, but rather, every song on this album is fated to be someone's favorite track; after processing and absorbing it fully, this conclusion remains indisputable.

   The opening track, Underneath My Skin, sneakily works its coils into you and eventually completely possesses you with it's undeniable anthemic quality. When Jon sings "There's something inside of me, this is my time again!" you don't really figure out the context of how positive the song actually is, until you've run the gauntlet of the whole album, so that after it's over, and you begin the cycle again, that's when the realization has settled in that this opening track is a positive affirmation of personal independence from the parasites dominating the world. But at first listen--the lyrics "Something's crawling underneath my skin I fear, something's dying, rotting deep within"--lend a negative impression to the song, but further exposure to the remaining lyrics, "something's crawling underneath my skin I fear, something's dying, I will not give in", indicate a positive note of personal redemption that anyone struggling through this chaotic life should be able to identify with. At least, I do. 

   2nd track Final Days is a bonafide epic in the "world music goth" vibe, more akin to an evil Peter Gabriel tune than anything, and it does not disappoint. This track is the first indication of what sort of role model our lead singer has fashioned for himself. It has deep connections with Anne Rice's titular vampire Lestat, who Jonathan embodied eleven years ago or so when he penned five epic songs for Queen of the Damned, the vehicle through which he transformed into Lestat on his Alone I Play tour, back in 2007. I witnessed that performance in Los Angeles at the Orpheum, and I can tell you it remains one of the pinnacles of my extensive concertgoing career. That's when Jon played the violin and proved he's an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, and not just a deranged frontman belting out vocals. It's no secret Korn have been paving their way into a corner of the goth subculture for the last thirteen years at least (since 2005's album See You On The Other Side dropped, although I can testify that goths showed up to Korn shows in droves way before that) and this album absolutely leaps onto the goth center stage and demands to be noticed. All the themes this singer has obsessed over during the past twenty years coalesce into their perfect expression on The Black Labyrinth. One could easily argue this album is superior to Korn's output, and I wouldn't blink an eye. It's almost as if the past 25 years in Korn have only been a gestation period ultimately giving birth to Jonathan Davis as a bonafide solo artist, with the release of his debut album dropped in 2018.

   One of my personal favorite songs is track seven, The Secret, where Jon employs what I call his "Neil Diamond voice," one of my favorite vocal modes of his. He uses it to great effect on this track. It's a song to induce goosebumps, featuring a direct, low register sort of growl that conveys its intent with spectacular melodic self assurance. I will never grow tired of listening to The Secret, and now that I've absorbed all thirteen tracks, the same could be said for the album, which arrives with a crack of thunder that will roll out across the alternative music landscape for a long time. This isn't a game being played by some star-struck singer assuming a fake, tortured posture for commercial ends. (You are welcome to nurture that cynical idea, but rest assured, you'd be mistaken.) This right here is the bonafide real deal, one hundred percent raw sincerity from an extremely passionate individual who has something to say about this fucked up world we've all been trapped in, and it’s reflected clearly in the eyes of his legion of fanatic listeners.  (I don't want to go into the remaining tracks on this album simply because its harvest of dark secrets is best left for the listener to discover for themselves, I think.)

   The one alternative rock album released this year that even begins to compare with this, for me, is A Perfect Circle's masterful Eat The Elephant (which I personally believe could very well qualify as Album of the Year, to be honest, along with Laurie Anderson's LANDFALL and Eno's Music For Installations). Except that Jonathan Davis cuts just as deep with his own idiosyncratic personal take on plumbing the depths of the darker side of the human condition. There may be no doubt that Maynard James Keenan takes the prize as the male diva of rock music, with his exquisite vocal enunciations and powerful set of pipes and superb lyrics; but for me, Jonathan comes across with more immediacy and ultimately, just more fun to listen to when I get right down to it. There's something a tad too measured, stately and grandiose about APC, while Jonathan's approach seems wilder and more unhinged and diverse. In the end, this all comes down to a matter of personal taste and aesthetics. I wouldn't dream of ranking the many artists I've become devoted to over the years, since I first discovered rock'n'roll by listening to Aerosmith's second album Get Your Wings, and being led up the plank by the hands of such classic bands as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, and then ushered deeper into the underground by David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, and finally after diving off the edge of sanity into the harsher realms of punk, industrial, death and black metal. There's just too much of a widespread variety of excellence across the board.

   One lone figure remains standing amid all of these mentioned, howling in defiance his anthems of pain, loss, misery, hope, sex, and redemption. The lost and lonely prince of despair. The uncrowned king of desolation. The demon child grown up to become father figure and champion of the downtrodden and hopeless, my own personal hero and savior of rock'n'roll, Mr. Jonathan Davis, aka Saint Jon the Infernal. His debut solo album The Black Labyrinth has proven to be everything and more than I could possibly have hoped for. Strangely, considering he's been doing this for twenty-five years already, this solo debut marks the official arrival of a real legend in the realm of alternative music. He's always been a prodigious artist who's constantly writing new songs and developing musical ideas, make no mistake about it. As of six days ago (the official release date of The Black Labyrinth) it's been made crystal clear. Jonathan Davis really is here to stay.