Tecuciztecatl, His Name is Alive’s fourteenth full-length, sees the Livonia band expanding their conceptual aims.
This “psychedelic rock opera” (their own description) builds on the chamber pop of prior records such as 1996’s nostalgic Stars on E.S.P. while moving to turf one step beyond the jazz madness of 2007’s Sweet Earth Flower. At its core, the LP defies the parameters of reality, instead chasing after the dream logic of myth, religion, bad trips, or black magic. Yet what doesn’t quite make sense right away on here might just be Warren Defever and co.’s way of inviting closer examination of the music.
With Tecuciztecatl, His Name is Alive slide further past the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach of earlier works, instead focusing on a lack thereof – meandering guitar noodling, sprawling arena-rock fugues, ambient soundscapes drifting aimlessly. These sonic elements, which draw upon similar touchstones as ‘70s acts who bridged the divide between prog and psychedelia, yearn for some sort of narrative structure to ground them.
His Name Is Alive’s greatest innovation with Tecuciztecatl lies here, in a tale of a woman pregnant with twins – angelic and demonic – who must enlist help from a librarian. If it sounds crazy, wait ‘til you discover this: each version of the album has a different mix and tracklist, whether vinyl, CD, or digital download. Furthermore, every song was written from the perspective of a different character, and the LP was intended to soundtrack an imaginary film.
Record opener “The Examination” is appropriately theatrical all throughout its 13 minutes, transforming from a barely smoldering canticle into Tecuciztecatl’s thematic manifesto, as delivered by vocalist Andrea Morici (“Make yourself at home”), which sets a tone for the LP that’s easily achieved by His Name Is Alive. Tecuciztecatl’s greatest strengths, therefore, are not found on the surface of its songs: “Reflect Yourself,” one of the album’s nine tracks – all of which could conceivably slot into classic rock radio rotation – recalls no one so much as it does Thin Lizzy. This may be because Defever compiled all of the group’s guitar solos from 1973 to 1983. The boys, or at least their riffs, are back in town.
Defever puts a lot on the line with Tecuciztecatl – after all, it’s not easy to make conceptual albums particularly affecting – yet he succeeds by doing exactly what he’s always done, just on a scale befitting veteran status: rhapsodic, relentlessly curious, in search of new frontiers but not afraid to look back and draw from the well of tradition.
The album evokes both fairy tales, allegories, and horror movies, but it also echoes poetry – take, for example, the song “I Believe Your Heart Is No Longer Inside This Room.” Who else would use orchestral samples to score a parable about mortality except His Name Is Alive? Following the twisted logic of Defever and co. leads one down paths barely traveled, but the rewards are many.
Thrill-seekers should be able to find much to love in Tecuciztecatl’s sonic trip. Those who are up for that challenge will be bewildered at first by His Name Is Alive’s headlong jump into the aural abyss, but stick with this fable just long enough to find your bearings. You’ll soon want to get lost in it again.
Stream Tecuciztecatl here.