Review: Pray for Daylight
Zombies and folk music may seem like an odd combination, but they’re more compatible than some might think. Folk music is based on experiences and oral tradition — if all technology was lost in the zombie apocalypse, there would still be folk songs. In fact, “Pray for Daylight,†Chris Kiehne’s zombie folk music album, is one of the most achingly realistic examples of the genre out there.
The first thing that jumps out at you (pun intended) is the vast juxtaposition between the guitar and voices, which are beautiful, and the imagery of living corpses and blood soaked streets. It’s understandable that such imagery is more often associated with punk rock and horror rock (and don’t get me wrong, I love those genres), but there is something about folk that transports you to the world of the survivors. That it’s aesthetically pleasing to listen to makes it that much more haunting.
The album, as you might guess, is a concept album and is best experienced as one long piece, though some tracks do stand out. The opening track “Sister Black Maria,” which is reprised later, grabs you with a relatively uptempo rhythm and gorgeous harmonies. As it leads into “Diomedea” and the instrumental “The Walking Dead,” you begin to feel like you’re surviving a deserted wasteland. Like the best zombie movies, it’s not just about horror and gore, it’s about people and relationships and loss — and facing the realities of what you have to do to survive.
Says Kiehne:
I’ve always felt that the particular element of zombie films that really elevates the sub-genre is that first moment of transfiguration, where a character first ceases to be him/herself and commences being something other. It’s a really profound moment, in my mind, insofar as it represents the simultaneous presence of polar opposites, which is otherwise a practical impossibility…. It’s a debilitating situation and demands really devastating moral decisions. It requires Helen to murder her daughter, Shaun to murder his mother, Francesco Dellamorte to murder his fated lover. And not all of them – or us – can, or will…. So the album is about, basically, trying to survive a zombie epidemic and protect your lover when you know full well that she’s already been bitten. And that she’s changing. So I guess in a way it’s sort of an allegorical examination of a diseased relationship, too. But it’s mostly just about zombies.
The best part? You can legally download “Pray For Daylight” for free here.
Check it out, tell your friends, and check out Chris Keihne’s other projects at theburgundycord.tumblr.com and chriskiehne.bandcamp.com.
