Review: Dead Can Dance Anastasis

image courtesy of Dead Can Dance

Iconic (and only recently) reunited musicians Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance, have surprised fans and music critics alike this morning by releasing the entire LP, Anastasis for preview online.  The first studio album from the pair in over a decade, Anastasis employs many of the musical elements for which Dead Can Dance became known during the late 1980s and 1990s.

From the opening notes of "Children of the Sun", the haunting harmony of orchestral instruments matched with pulsing rhythms, sitar strings, and sharp horn elements sets the stage for an epic album. As the tracks unfold through the at times  foreboding, and heavily Eastern-influenced notes of  "Agape", "Amnesia", "Kiko", "Opium", "Return of the She-King" and "All in Good Time" it becomes very clear that Anastasis is not a haphazard thrown together effort made in the pursuit of profiting on nostalgia.  It is in fact a painstakingly created work of art that succeeds on all levels, and will leave both long time fans and the newly converted thrilled. 

Anastasis is available for pre-order and preview streaming online at Dead Can Dance Dot Com. Pre-orders and speciality box sets of the album will be shipped to arrive on or before August 13.  The Dead Can Dance World tour kicks off in Vancouver BC on August 9th. For more tour information check out our previous coverage here.