Majesty in Sound
There was little hint of what I was getting into with Purple Rhapsody’s new album, Apocalypse Suite. A great shoutout to Florgoth for linking me up with some vibes definitely outside my usual range of sound.
Like a lot of albums I really like personally, Apocalypse Suite tells a story from the first track to the last. From “beginning of the end”, a primarily piano-infested piece, right through to “desolation of dreams”, there is a coherent tale of the future being told. This is something to let your imagination run with and feel what the characters of your story feel. Eight tracks give you well over thirty minutes of imaginary bliss to run about in.
The music is cinematic and orchestral in feel. I would like to label it neo-classical, a label Purple Rhapsody come close to, but I think this album is more. Apocalypse Suite is written with the aim of sucking you into the vortex of its narrative and then giving you the freedom to wander about and mould that vortex as you will. Classical music, in my paltry experience, has never really come close to this, except for a couple of really bombastic pieces by certain composers. Purple Rhapsody just rip open the future, shove you through the portal and close it up again.
The pieces in Suite are all evocative of very different emotions. In “rat race”, the groove is amped up and the urgency would make a penguin sweat bullets. Vocalisations bring the organic to the thunder and power of the music. The very next track, “old guard”, drops you back into a wandering, a casual dawdle through a manicured garden before the majesty of someone’s entry to the scene. Soaring and tangible, “old guard” is one of my favourite tracks on the album.
I have not often been wowed by movie soundtracks. Only three have been of the scope I have immediately gone and bought them. Apocalypse Suite is on that par. This is an album that has everything a good story needs. Foreboding menace, tension between rivals, belligerent villainy and a whole tonne more. There’s even some piratical parts in there for those of us who just adore a good tale of piracy and grit.
This is killer cinematic music of the best kind. It draws you in, grabs you emotionally, and gives your imagination the freedom to just roll. Everything from nail-biting tension to light-hearted fun is here and it is truly epic. All of that in eight tracks. Purple Rhapsody have done a real number on this and movie makers should be taking note.
Imagine what this album would be with a movie to go with it.
