Ostara

RICHARD Leviathan's work has always been something of a contradiction. Highly emotional songs delivered in an unemotional fashion; catchy anthems with important themes; and a deep celebration of life amid the aesthetics of violence and aggression. Ostara have occupied a special place in my heart ever since I saw Richard and ex-group member Timothy Jenn perform live at the Camden Underworld with Sorrow and Current 93 a few years ago. Unsurprisingly, therefore, I couldn't wait to put this new release into the CD player and see how the band has progressed since the release of their excellent 'Secret Homeland' and 'Kingdom Gone' albums.

Unlike the first two, however, 'Ultima Thule' comes in a jewel case. It also features some nice imagery, including a silver-lipped she-wolf by moonlight, several blue-blurred visuals of the band and a snarling mistress in black and white (also used for this year's Ostara Yule postcard). The first track, 'Rose of the World', begins with a haunting synthesiser before slipping into a slow-rock drumbeat. Seconds later, you suddenly realise that Ostara have decided to use electric guitars for the first time and the results are amazing. Not too heavy, either, just a series of distorted riffs that wouldn't be out of place on a Marilyn Manson album. As the song unfolds and begins to increase in tempo, however, Richard's vocals seem closer to Indie or Britpop than neo-folk. It's quite refreshing to see Ostara coming from this new perspective, but the chorus is still Ostara through and through and rather than any real break with the past, the style reflects a greater musical ability. Richard's vocals were always the strongest weapon in the Ostara arsenal, so the fact that Stu Mason (guitars) and Kari Hatakka (keyboards) have managed to develop a more complex sound to match that core singing ability must be welcomed with open arms.

'Nightmare Machines' is very eclectic and opens like one of Rammstein's shrill keyboard patterns, with the strum of an acoustic guitar and echoed effects tapping away beneath the more characteristic Ostara vocals. But this time it's the chorus which marks the change and the rock guitar style is similar to that of John McGeogh of Siouxsie & The Banshees during the 'Ju-Ju' era. The guitar used on 'Diva De Sade', meanwhile, reminds me of a tinkling melody from an Iron Maiden ballad, although here Richard is using the kind of microphone that distorts the voice slightly as though singing into a megaphone. This could even be an effort to generate more of a 'twenties feel, the way Vivian Stanshall and the Bonzo Dog Band would use a similar effect for their amusing jazz parodies. But there's nothing remotely comical here. The 'Love is pain' theme is an ode to Sado-Masochism and the assorted whimperings of corrected libertines remind me of Rammstein's 'Mutter' and are juxtaposed with a more upbeat pop tune. It's a refreshing tongue-in-cheek alternative to the standard happy-clappy lovesong drivel that currently plagues the musical mainstream: 'Kitten lashes / Sable furs / Look so good tied up in turns'. And instead of a kiss and a bunch of flowers, it strikes you firmly across the buttocks like Jimmy Edwards nurturing a hangover. Definitely the best track on the album.

'Song of Sam', on the other hand, is a technoid hotchpotch in which the megaphone returns and the German phrase 'Whenever I hear the word culture I reach for my pistol' is taken from Hanns Johst's 1933 play, 'Schlageter', first performed to mark Hitler's thirty-fifth birthday. Hermann Goering also used the words as part of an inscription on a ceramic gun, and they are often used to imply that if something cannot be seen or felt then it probably doesn't exist. The metaphysical implications are obvious. The title of 'Does The Truth Make Free' is derived from John 8: 31-38, meaning that the man who refrains from wrongdoing is no longer a slave to sin. The song appears to question this biblical concept and views the suppressed passions of both heart and mind as objects which find liberation in death. The song's choratic and spoken-word origins allude to man's primordial beginnings, whilst the lyrical distinction between those of the sun and those of the moon could well be an Evolian reference to men and women respectively. It's a powerful track and the euphoric delivery does not match the pessimistic sentiments.

And then we come to the title track. Musically, 'Ultima Thule' is like a continuation of 'Overworld', but far more optimistic than the previous track: 'But here we sing / To the echo of a dream / And here we rise / Always falling into being'. The uncertain atmosphere of the contemporary world is tempered with the knowledge of man's divine origins and the cyclical nature of the universe. 'Proud Black Templar' is a quartet of stanzas about the world and how it is perceived. Recited impeccably in the form of a haunting medieval chant, it relates to the Knights Templar and their denial of Christ, culminating in the Albigensian Crusade and the persecution of the Cathars and since commemorated within the eighteenth degree of Freemasony. This is followed by 'Immortally Wounded', with Desmo's mellow drumbeat underpinning what is surely destined to become one of the album's most enduring and persistent ear-worms. Slightly repetitive, perhaps, but no less enjoyable as a result. Very soulful, too, even verging on Lover's Rock in places. Richard's penchant for apocalyptic references is well known, and 'Black Spring' is no different. Similar to the theological utterances of 'Kingdom Gone', the lyrics are fantastic and expose man's compacency and apathy in a theatre of impending destruction: 'Who are these dead men / Asleep in their houses / Watching the storm from afar?' Meanwhile, the anti-materialist connotations present in lines such as 'See how the merchants / Have taken the temple / Haggling over the crown' are fused with subtle Nietzschean observances like 'Where is your Jesus / To turn over the tables'. It's the absence of God in a crumbling and chaotic world, as razor-edged samples give way to a jangling guitar accompaniment and twin-voiced delivery.And finally we arrive at 'Diva de Sade (Sadistic Trance Mix)', a dancebeat version of the original and something that more and more groups are beginning to experiment with on their albums, ranging from Kraftwerk's recent 'Tour de France' mixes right through to black metal bands like Cradle of Filth. But I doubt whether Ostara were intending this to be a humourous development, either, because it's a damn good track. Perhaps we'll even see both versions released together on a 10" single, with a Jungerian dub version thrown in for good measure?!

To conclude then, 'Ultima Thule' is just as good as the group's previous albums but a lot more flexible in terms of its accessible nature and blossoming musical compentance. Whilst one or two songs have a slight affinity with In My Rosary's 'Shades of Cats' period, Ostara may also be at the forefront of a new genre that is gradually breaking away from the increasingly repetitive and resticting domain of neo-folk. It will be interesting to see how these songs are received during their forthcoming tour, especially if the guitars can provide a driving contiguity to the overall presentation. In the meantime grab yourself a copy of 'Ultima Thule', sip your Thulean cocktails and enjoy the sunset.