Regular readers might have noticed that, besides metal and hard/heavy rock, I also have a soft spot for music from the 70s, psychedelic in particular. And it seems like Jess and the Ancient Ones did their best to push my buttons in that regard.
The album is quite a remarkable experience. Stylisticly somewhere between The Doors and retro-occult-rock like Blood Ceremony, The Horse and Other Weird Tales is colourful, organic and beautifully arranged, with some truly captivating songwriting.
On top of it all vocalist Jess, who is transporting so much pure energy with her dynamic and engaging singing without sacrificing melody. Was her performance on their first record often quite shouty, on The Horse and Other Weird Tales she sounds so much more refined and in command and in the best sense of the word haunting. Dramatic changes in mood, tempo and rhythms - her performance is really outstanding.
If there is one thing to complain about, and I am happy to say there is only one thing actually, then that it just feels too short. The overall runtime is only 34 minutes and most of the songs are just between two and three and a half minutes long, leaving you craving for more. I certainly would not blame a lack of ideas here. To the contrary. The songs are so rich that most of them could easily be twice as long and still entertain me splendidly.
But maybe its better this way. Maybe they want their listeners to stay hungry for more than having a profound lack of ideas dragged out over 20 tracks and 70 minutes, as it happens too often.
All in all a brilliant piece of psychedelic rock with an outstanding singer. A bit too short, but then again - that doesn't takes anything away from all the goodness that's there!
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