Astronomica by The Changelings
Middle Pillar, 2002

The Changelings' Astronomica

THE CHANGELINGS LINKS The Changelings (official site) Buy Astronomica from Middle Pillar

I first heard about The Changelings from my friend Lisa. Not so coincidentally, Lisa was a goth and an especially happy one at that, as being a goth in Atlanta is kind of fun, or so she told me. (After all, given the weather, people are always giving their black clothes and "too hot" velvet to Goodwill and Salvation Army.) Anyway, Lisa was a goth who knew how to find good stuff. One of the good things to be had in Atlanta, she indicated, was The Changelings.

At least twice Lisa went to Dragon*Con to, at the very least, see them perform. They're an Atlanta band anyway, but seeing them in that environment -- with all the added bonuses like workshops, thousands in costume, huge merchandise market -- was absolutely tops and worth the roughly $60 admission.

After finally seeing the band at this year's Dragon*Con, my first, I tend to agree.

First of all, there is pre-story. When I first got my ticket (or in D*C lingo, "membership"), I was eager to go start figuring out what to go to. Well, what do I see right away but The Changelings? "Oh, Lisa's band!" I said and circled it. He he. Well, the grand weekend, Labor Day weekend, finally rolled around and there I was with my program, flipping to see the more in-depth write-ups of the guests and under bands, there they are, along with another familiar name: Storm Constantine.

At Dragon*Con '96, noted British gothic writer Storm Constantine, no stranger to the goth and baroque scene, declared The Changelings to be the best new goth band she'd seen in teh past five years.

Now that got me excited! So I go through my day, actually only the Friday of the long weekend, dropping in to a few writing workshops, mucho peoplewatching, browsing the market, etc., and it's wonderful, not least because it's kind of quiet still, so there's room to move (as opposed to Saturday when things got crazy). There were booths around for all the bands and so when I saw a display with all their CDs and the people there (from the label or friends, I guess) looked so cool, I had to get their latest album Astronomica. Eventually I got tired and since I live only a few blocks from the convention, I went home and, what the heck, popped in the album for a bit while I ate and fixed my outfit. Listening, I didn't take long for me to know I'd got a good one. But more on that later.

Anyway, so around 11 or 11:30 I go down to the giant hall in the one hotel all the performances are at. Not anything happening yet. I wait. Other people wait. More and more gothic types come in. We wait. More goths. We wait. Sound check. We wait. Weird feedback. We wait. Yeah, issues. We wait around an hour. They finally start at something like 12:30.

It was worth the wait. As soon as the lights went down, as soon as their lovely lead female vocalist, Regeana Morris, came under the glow of a spotlight, as soon as Paul Mercer started going down on his violin and the music began to scream through the air, I was like, "Oh my GOD!" It was like an electric arrow went through my head but at the same time, like I was having really good sex. The sound equipment was turned up wicked high to compensate for a bad electrical hum, so really everything was amped up to the point of really hurting, to where my body (not anywhere near the stage really) was vibrating. It was a very visceral, wonderful experience, while at the same time, one with a sound that made me, at least, feel like I was up in some heavenly place. My eyes, meanwhile enjoyed seeing the band members twist and contort on stage and I was especially into the whole "possessed violinist" routine, which wasn't entirely contrived, I don't think.

I was just escastic after the show, screaming and doing an ovation with everyone else. I left happy and, of course, ready to listen to that album a lot. Ever since that concert, I've had the album either in my computer CD-ROM, next to the computer, or in my CD player, the entire time for, needless to say, repeated listenings. It's a lovely listen. After the show I emailed Storm, all excited. She replied that she hadn't been impressed by the band's last few efforts (I bought two more and enjoyed) but whatever the case, Astronomica is a wonderful album and a great keepsake of the performance, only without the high amps.

From the start of the first track, Astronomica gets going on a gothic space voyage vibe that never really lets up. On "Depature," there are beautifully mixed violin and orchestrals, dramatic Regeanna Morris vocals backed by the intense, insistent rhythm of their percussion, wild plucking string sounds (dulcimer?), and lyrics which truly read like a poem:

I left already knowing
that there would be
no returning
new stars and moons awaiting
a new sun a new world that lies
beyond these skies

After that, the appropriately named "Orbit" rolls in with an unfathomably catchy melody full of ache and a low buzzing undercurrent (likely the work of the band's amazing keyboardist, Nick Pagan, with his many electric tools). It's like like being shot up into space in some gothic space ship full of black crepe and dead leaves:

now the time
shadows lengthen days
cutting closer
the air grows thin
sun is looking at us sidewise
as we slip away to dream
and you're hanging from the rafters
by your bony feet that's no way
no way to sleep

Another of my favorite songs is "Veils of Gold," which is probably the most truly exotic, wailing gothic song on the album. The song seems to conjure up a dreadful scene, the singer warning in a foreboding voice of the evil across the "great and vast divide":

till you run
will you run far away from here
till you run far away
till you run far away away
away from here

In conclusion, I have to say that I owe my friend Lisa, whose wedding I'm attending this weekend, a lot of thanks. Not only do I have this great, great album and two other Changelings CDs as well (the EP Epicycles and the album Terra Firma), but I've got a local band I must seek out to see again and, of course, yet another reason to attend my second Dragon*Con (I hope they are there, it's sort of tradition, isn't it?)

About the Author:
Wendy Darling (nickname Wiebke Fesch) is a web designer, fanfic author, and editor of Inception. She lives in Atlanta, GA, where she is self-employed, operating her own web design business, Metro Girl. Wendy is co-author of a Wraeththu Mythos novel called Breeding Discontent, and is an editor with Immanion Press. You can reach Wendy at wdarling@abraxis.com.