BURN MY SHADOW

"I have burned my tomorrows
and I stand inside today
at the edge of the future
and my dreams all fade away..."
from "Burn My Shadow" by Unkle, featuring Ian Astbury, as found on the album War Stories

This is The Cult song that you have been waiting for. This is the song from the band fronted by Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné, where the sword Stormbringer has become microphone. This is the song that Loki sings as he crosses the Bifrost Rainbow Bridge from Asgard into our backyard. Perhaps it is none of these, but it easily could be.

The production duo of Unkle (James Lavelle and Richard File) and their producer Chris Goss have given Ian Astbury, the frontman of The Cult, the vehicle that he needs to finally channel Jim Morrison of The Doors in a proper fashion. Present in the mix are jangly guitar, driving percussion, and a strangely forceful synthesizer "bass" line. Astbury's lyrics are first delivered over silence broken only by tinkling bells, reminiscent of the keys used to great effect in "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. These lyrics are repeated, followed by another verse, and then by the repeated chorus of "burn my shadow, burn my shadow away." The music quiets to classical piano, a low keyboard hum, and then silence.

The guitar, drums, and synthesizer return after five seconds of quiet to pummel the listener, accompanied by the frantic clanging of a cowbell. After this, some weird chanting ensues, followed by the return of Astbury's voice. The chorus is repeated every few seconds—"burn my shadow, burn my shadow away"—while the music builds into a pulsing crescendo for one final assault before ceasing.

The closest sibling of "Burn My Shadow" is The Cult's own "King Contrary Man" from the Electric album. They are different musically, but share an insistence on being heard. "Burn My Shadow" presents us stop-and-start musical craziness, whereas "King Country Man" provides straightforward honky-tonk stomp-rock, but both songs deliver their dark lyrics with a fervor that is infectious.

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If "Burn My Shadow" is the car chase, money-shot explosion, action sequence of the film soundtrack that War Stories could have been, then the album's closer "When Things Explode" is the music to accompany the closing credits. It neatly reprises some of the atmosphere and some of the words of the lyrics from "Burn My Shadow" while playing in a quieter, more subdued musical environ. Softly strummed guitar, strings, piano, and soft drumming lift up the vocals of Ian Astbury, who once again takes center stage on the song. His voice repeats the phrase "watched it burn" for the last couple of minutes, which is appropriate. "Burn My Shadow" and "When Things Explode" together consume the energy of War Stories—and devour the other songs—such that they really become the two focal points of the album. I find it difficult to even listen to the other twelve tracks any longer, simply because Astbury and Unkle have created two tracks that work so well together that their eleven minutes of perfection are almost an album unto themselves.