Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
What would you forfeit if it meant succeeding at something, to be seen as enthralling, the mysterious and the exceptional, it might be worth a lot of things but it is never worth your soul; if you don’t keep it real, then surely by the definition you have cheated yourself out of the very sacrifice, the point of the journey you have tried to attain and cherish.
David Barnicle & The Mystery Force, incorporating the superb talents of Brian Dawe, Dominic Allen, Andy Miller, take sacrifice seriously, like all great artists they push beyond the original set parameters that may have been openly discussed and set the target higher, deeper in the enriched spirit and there the Human Sacrifice becomes apparent, the time given to the project far exceeds the natural law and becomes a living entity, a flowering bloom which is stamped and remembered for its shining example.
The four strong E.P. is one that is of powerful persuasion and ripped tight against the T-shirt muscular frame; it is steely, proportioned and firm jawed and yet it also has its compassion running right through the thread of each song, it has the brutal reminder of life but also the charge of hope and it is one that David Barnicle, arguably could only bring to bear.
Human Sacrifice, the ultimate expression in either loss or gain, the pushed or the self imposed jumper, the ones who walk willingly into the volcano because they can feel the warm embrace of the Goddess tempering their art, this is what makes the E.P. so intriguing, so full of life and nestled in the security that everything has been put in to it; there is not a single sinewy muscle left that was not taken down to the raw passion as the music flowed.
Whether it is in the E.P. title track, Zep Tepi, Renaissance or Twin Star, each song is balanced and gracious, each moment filled with a taste for the extraordinary and one that if you had but one day to live and if it was for the good of humanity, you would listen to, pass on the good thoughts and dive headlong into the noble sacrifice; it is after all about enlightenment and surrendering yourself to the words and thoughts of another human being, David Barnicle is one of those rare people you would forgo forging a reply for.
Human Sacrifice is released on December 5th.
Ian D. Hall