reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Black Fortress of Opium - Black Fortress of Opium

This Boston-based group is headed up by a young lady who goes by the name of Ajda the Turkish Queen. The band name is a translation of the name of a town in Turkey that, until the ‘60s, produced copious amounts of opium. This debut album, however, has little to do with the musical traditions of the Ottoman Empire. While one may be able to detect some vaguely “ethnic” instrumentation (as on “Crack and Pool”) and the occasional unusual scale, this is much more of a gothic folk record that occasionally aims for some worldliness. Ajda may be the guiding creative force here, but her voice stands as the weakest part of the equation; the soaring expressions she often attempts are derailed by her limited range, and her flat singing makes the more intimate moments jarringly uncomfortable. That’s not to say that Black Fortress is not without its pleasures; in fact, it has many. The well-constructed instrumental passages are dynamic and emotional without being overbearing, and the ethereal gloominess is rendered in such an elegant way that it seems neither silly nor pointlessly dark. - Jason Ferguson