The Memorials have come full circle with the release of their second album Delirium, presenting a very diverse collection of complex compositions and a color pallet that extends much further than the first release. Opening the album jacket, “In Loving Memory of Addie M. Thomas” graces the packaging showing Thomas Pridgen with a bouquet of flowers. Addie M. Thomas is of course Thomas’ grandmother and played a huge roll in nurturing the environment that produced one of the greatest drummers alive. So many moments in Delirium reflect this eternal thanks and beauty that must have come into his life from what she gave. Committed to analog tape in the groups hometown in the bay, Oakland to be exact, every instrument is given micro-detail and dialed in to produce some of the fattest tones I have heard in this style of music. It’s a group like this, with the technical and precise based musicianship involved that analog recording is even possible considering the costs.
With The Memorials first album, the group was a powerhouse, showing a fiery and ferocious penchant for energy, soaring guitar lines, crazy drum breaks, and a muscular weight that made it one of the heaviest experimental rock albums of last year. Delirium still retains the power of their first, but there is a glowing essence that breaths much more clear on this new outing, a counter part to the weight that dominated the first. Living Colour to Jimi Hendrix and Betty Davis to Bad Brains, Delirium is a record of extremes and one could only expect such a result with it being dedicated to Thomas’ grandmother.
Thomas Pridgen probably has one of the most unique voices in the drum world. When you hear him on a record and he is able to cut loose, you immediately know it’s him. Delirium displays Thomas’ voicing with confidence and displays a lot of color in his kit, not just the inhuman like drum lines he can producer. With a very distinct phrasing in tonality, very precise technicality and just straight up light speed drum work, the album becomes intoxicating as he finds every crevice and space to fill without stumbling over anything. Guitarist Nick Brewer wrote all of the songs with Thomas, and the way he builds on his guitar really gives a lot of depth and dynamics to the album. Nick is as pure and natural of a guitar player as you will get and he stops at nothing to show why that is true in his repertoire. His tone is really reminiscent of Vernon Reid, Eddie Hazel, Jimi Hendrix and many of the pioneering guitar players that created many modern foundations to the electric guitar. Viveca Hawkins is the glue to the album, connecting many of the songs that deviate so much from each other by the commanding presence of her vocal work. There is a really wide range in her vocals though, especially within comparison to the first full length. Betty Davis would have been proud to hear this album as Viveca drops as much flavor and style and she does knowledge and poetic reasoning. The lyrics are very introspective and displays how talented she is with lyric writing, a deviation from her bombastic and wild style in live shows.
With only two songs falling under the six minute mark, Delirium starts off with a electronic programmed based remix of ‘Dream’ from producer Future Perfekt. It’s a really different side of The Memorials than seen before and shows how far the groups sound can be manipulated into different genre settings. Lush synth, a heavily processed and intricate programmed drum sequence and subtle guitar additives, Viveca Hawkins connects the music to the groups identity with her unmistakable vocal work. The album shifts from mood to mood as each song unfolds. Almost eight minutes in length, the second song ‘Fluorescent’s Unforgiving’ comes out the gates full throttle, with the band running through parts that dynamically dive in and out of insanity. Lyrically, the song is really political and social based as Viveca Hawkins breaks down government corruption, societal injustices, the industrial prison complex, THC laws and so many more potent and relevant topics. It’s a removing of the mask and something that makes this record as important in terms of the messages as it is the insanity of how technical and creative these musicians are. ‘Fluorescent’s Unforgiving’ displays a really beautiful section of trumpet work from Ambrose Akinmusire that leads into one of the heaviest sections of the album, a very dreamy and Middle Eastern influenced passage. The musical territory examined already has stretched the corners of the world and we are only two songs in. Adrian Terrezas of the super group T.R.A.M. lays down his distinct sax and flute work on the albums ending piece. The break down of the last song simmers down into a really relaxed state and the flute work Adrian displays is pure beauty in sound. Thomas Pridgen has this uncanny and unmatchable way of playing with so many ideas on his kit, that it’s truly unbelievable he doesn’t overcome any of the other musicians parts.
When I got to the albums end in ‘Mr. Entitled’, a new understanding of The Memorials overcame me, a new distinct realization that this band has already covered so much territory and still a lot of ground to cover. Delirium is still just the beginning of this exploration and it’s an album that is packed to the brim with musical ideas and unreal results to match. The Memorials second full length Delirium presents a guide book on modern fusion and is a record we really feel is not to be missed.
-Erik Otis
The Memorials
Delirium
Bloodthirsty Unicorn Records
- Dream (Remix)
- Fluorescent’s Unforgiving
- Gone
- Heavyweight
- Daisies
- Delirium
- So Anti-Me
- Mr.Entitled
