Pitchfork

For their first full-length, Book of Sand, prog-chamber trio Tarantula A.D. withheld nothing from their daring but cumbersome experiments in musical husbandry. Combining classical instrumentation and techniques with elements of metal, flamenco, and various pan-global folk forms, the group eagerly succumbs to their every outsized whim. Wearing their lofty art-rock pretensions with a theatrical Centurion pride, Tarantula A.D. ultimately prove unable to bring their epic vision into any degree of focus and fail to keep their numerous plates spinning in balance.

Though predominantly instrumental, Book of Sand has the look and feel of a rock opera, lacking only a cohesive libretto. This impression is accentuated by the album's ambitious structure, which features a two-act piece entitled "Who Took Berlin" interlocked with a grandiose trilogy called "The Century", as well as a generous handful of preludes and intermezzos. At any rate, Tarantula A.D.'s three group members-- Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans, and Gregory Rogove-- are all obviously musicians of skill, and each of them here plays multiple instruments, so rarely does the album sound like the work of a mere trio. Adding further depth of field are vocal cameos supplied by CocoRosie's Sierra Cassidy, Inouk's Alexander and Damon McMahon, and the omnipresent Devendra Banhart.

With their shared appreciation for virtuosic bombast, classical music and heavy metal have long made strangely cozy bedfellows, but theirs is a union that seldom rewards a peek through the keyhole. Such is unfortunately the case on Book of Sand's opening track, "Century Trilogy I: Conquest", as the lyrical strains of Bensi's solo violin soon give way to black cape-twirling, gong-shaking power chords. So it continues on "Who Took Berlin (Part I)", portions of which sound something like a troupe of gypsies absconding with Metallica's "Sad But True". On these and Book of Sand's other more amplified segments, Tarantula A.D.'s use of metal textures sounds oddly self-conscious and mannered, almost as though they're more comfortable using the genre as a seasoning rather than as a main ingredient, thus never allowing their music's varied flavors to become fully integrated.

Even more problematic is the set-closing saga "The Century Trilogy III: The Fall", which features Devendra Banhart's dubious contribution. In a performance seemingly designed to fuel his detractors, Banhart here plays resolutely against his strengths, adding a series of operatic trills and ululation to Tarantula A.D.'s vaguely North African-tinged prog-odyssey, resulting in a wildly ineffective track that stands as the surest evidence yet that the singer just might benefit from a sabbatical.

Faring much better is the Sierra Cassidy-sung "Sealake", which features her quiet multi-tracked cooing over an eerie bed of chimes and scraped strings. As evidenced by this expertly understated track, Tarantula A.D. are at their best when they choose a single style and ride it for the whole length of a song, a method that also pays nice dividends on the extended Debussy-like piano composition "The Lost Waltz", and the gritty tango of "Palo Borracho". The only catch is that, when played in isolation, each of these highlights sounds like the creation of completely different act. So until Tarantula A.D. can find a way to unite their many disparate musical ideas into a single congruent narrative, perhaps their work is best experienced in clip form, on a scene-by-scene basis.