A&E
assive appeal

 

os RON GRE EE CR Ge eee Me eee ae

8
‘In the Amelia

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Highway Freak

by Trent with), a fiery young seminar- _ buffoonish priest a living, ; ‘Douglas Gallery :
ian, studying to become a breathing human being. é i.
orgive me Father, forI priest. Van Stralen brings the — The script has a tendency i
have sinned. It has right amount of passion and towards sermonizing (what i
been almost three ambivalence to his character, did you expect ina play
eeks since Mass Appeal and his on-stage struggles about priests?), but the real
bpened, yet it was only this —_ with the duality of the strength of the play comes in
riday (February 7) that I institution of the church, and _ the characterization and Chaos and Order:

as able to get to Pacific
Theatre to see it.
In doing so, I have
committed the sin of com-
iplacency towards this fine
production, starring two of
Pacific Theatre’s finest
repertoire actors.
Mass Appeal is the story of
a complacent Catholic priest
and an upstart young
deacon assigned to his
parish to “learn tact.” The
elder priest is a “song and
dance theologian,” witha
love of attention and good
wine. He performs for his
audience, jumping through
hoops to please them, while
the young deacon’s first
Sermon steps on more than a
ew toes. The young deacon,
a firebrand, burns people
ith his words because he
sees “what they could be,”
but fails to love them for
ho they are.
Dirk Van Stralen is
nwaveringly honest in his
performance as Mark Dolson
Deacon Dolson, he says,
marvelling at the ridiculous
onicker fate has stuck him

the duality of his sexuality,
are painfully apt and
accurate, especially for a
stage situated in the base-
ment of a church. Van
Stralen seems comfortable in
the role; a twenty something
angst-ridden student,
smashingly intelligent,
stridently rebellious, and
passionately angry. But his
motives for joining the
priesthood are ambiguous. I
know people studying to be
ministers who are a lot like
this character, and the
characterization rings
frighteningly true.

Tim Dixon has the uphill
battle, trying to bring
humanity to a character who
is just that; a character.
Father Farley is a foil to the
earnest questions of the
young deacon—one part
comedy, one part sermoniz-
ing, add wine and stir—and
it takes some effort to get
past the surface caricature to
find subtlety and nuance in
Bill Davis’ script. Dixon
pulls it off with ease, making
the complacent, sometimes

direction. The play jumps
from almost sitcom-esque
comedy to heart-wrenching
drama, sometimes in the
space of one line. Such
dizzying mood swings leave
the audience unbalanced
and disarmed—the play’s
intended effect.

Like many Pacific Theatre
productions, the staging is
sparse, focusing the atten-
tion squarely where it
should be, on the actors, and
the small studio space brings
the audience right into the
action. There’s something
very appealing about a
theatre where the front row
marks the start of the stage,
breaking down the barriers
between performance and
reality, and when Dixon's
character steps down from
the pulpit which he has
placed between himself and
the congregation, the act
transcends the play, touch-
ing on the very nature of
theatre itself.

Mass Appeal runs to Feb
15. It would be a sin to
miss it! .

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her before I can get up and go home...

 

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less.

 

ick Perreault,
member of
Highway Freak

Ticket, and an employee of
our Student Society, gave a

 

 

Opeth
Morningrise

Candlelight

The term ‘progressive metal’
has become something of a
joke in media circles over
recent years; a disparaging
oxymoron used, more often
than not, to unfairly malign
an entire genre of music, by
the same people who really
believed, deep in the core of
their being, that the genre
was as dead as the nails in
Bon Scott's coffin; the same
people who said with a
straight face “Yeah man,
Snoop really has something
valid to say,” and “How
about those Beatles...uh, I
mean Oasis guys? There’s an
original group with a great
career ahead of them.”
Aaahhh...the beauty of
irony...

Well metal naysayers, the
tide is indeed showing signs
of turning once again. As
“tha Dogefather” and his ilk
begin to fade into bargain-
bin obscurity following the
15 minutes of fame accorded
to their debut recordings,
and everyone's favourite
Brits continue to lead the
charge in the “alternative”
musical clone-wars, a newer,
hungrier breed of musician
has arrived, bringing with it
all of the power, intensity,
and originality born of the
now underground Heavy
Metal scene. And yes, O
adidas-clad minions, people
are listening.

Leading this slavering
wolfpack is Sweden’s Opeth,
an alternative to the alterna-
tive, a group seemingly bent
upon breathing a new life
and vitality into heavy
music while simultaneously
giving whole new meaning

g
°Q
fed
az
oe
o
=
=
Vv
k=
wi

tight performance Thursday
night at The Gate.
Congratulations to
Highway Freak Ticket’s CD
release; all the best Rick!

to the terms “progressive”
and “metal” in the bargain.
Morningrise, their soph-
omore release following
1994’s masterpiece Orchid,
displays a richly textured
majesty and uncompromis-
ing talent that is sadly remiss
in much of the music of the
‘90s.

Never content to follow
the trends, Opeth has
comprised a work well over
an hour in length, consisting
of five epic tracks including
‘Advent,’ ‘The Night and the
Silent Water,’ ‘Nectar,’ ‘Black
Rose Immortal,’ and ‘To Bid
You Farewell,’ showcasing a
dazzling technical profi-
ciency which com-bines
obvious classical training
with the extreme power of
Death, or Black Metal,
mixing both ‘clean’ and
guttural vocal styles to
create a dark, haunting
ambience. Not for the
impatient or closed-minded
music afficianado.

Opeth could, given time
and increased exposure,
grow into a power to be
reckoned with, along with
other talented yet relatively
unknown artists such as -
Amorphis, Paradise Lost
and Cathedral, to name but a
few. Heavy Metal may have
taken a kick in the pants so
to speak, but it is still very
much alive and breathing,
and it demands to be heard.
Take a chance folks, try
something that’s not force-
fed to you by the corporate
powers at MuchMusic. You
may actually like it.

by Ciaran Meeks

Cathedral
Supernatural Birth
Machine
Earache

Perrennial merchant of
doom, Cathedral returns
once again, with its latest
release, Supernatural Birth
Machine, the highly antici-
pated follow-up to 1995’s
The Carnival Bizarre, and
’96’s EP Hopkins: The

  

 

 

Life Patterns

mixed media by
Heffa.

Opening Reception,
February 14 1997, 4
pm-8 pm

Artist's Talk,
February 18, noon in
the Gallery

Free Admission
Everyone is welcome
Douglas College, 4th
Floor North, 700 Royal
Ave, New West

RE RO

 

    

i WAR F

CD Reviews

Witchfinder General, adding
yet another jewel in the
crown of a band that has
helped redefine and revital-
ize that oft-maligned genre
of music known as Heavy
Metal.

Cathedral’s current lineup
proves to be its most tal-
ented and consistent to date,
including vocalist Lee
Dorrian, guitarist Garry
Jennings, bassist Leo Smee,
and drummer Brian Dixon,
continuing to pump out
some of the most brain-
jarring Sabbath-inspired
heaviness this side of
Lucifer’s Listening Booth!

Unlike many of their
fellow Brits, who shall
remain nameless (did °
someone say Blur by any
chance?), Cathedral spits in
the face of the current trend
towards pop-laced drivel
that continues to wash up
unmercifully upon North
American shores, preferring
instead to inject near lethal
doses of (God forbid!) power
and energy into their music,
combining the most doom-
laden of guitar-riffs with ‘70s
flavoured camp.

Personal faves include
ethereal opener ‘Cybertron
71/Eternal Countdown’
which immediately blasts
into the adrenalized menace
of ‘Urko’s Conquest,’ an ode
to everyone’s favourite
simian villain of Planet of the
Apes fame. ‘Fireball Demon’
is a surprisingly catchy
number without compromis-
ing the “crunch-factor” so
vital to this type of music,
and ‘Birth Machine 2000’
and ‘Dragon Ryder 13’
demonstrate Cathedral in
classic form, creating that
epic Sab-throb that would
cause even the mighty
Iommi to prick up his ears
and nod in grim approval.

All in all a fine effort, which
comes as no surprise to one
who has faithfully followed
the lads’ career from the
beginning. Tankards of
Guinness all around! And as
Dorrian himself would
proudly exclaim: “Doom On!”

by Ciaran Meeks

 

The Other Press February 101997 9