Abattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus

iTunes Review

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds birthed fraternal twins in the form of two different albums released together in 2004. Abattoir Blues is a rock ‘n’ roll album — or rather, it is Nick Cave’s interpretation of one. His lyrics are still brooding and esoteric, but drummer Jim Sclavunos hammers stout beats alongside Mick Harvey’s howling guitar feedback and hair-shaking leads to deliver a dark and boozy affair that struts, slithers, and soul searches with sinister good times. “Get Ready For Love” opens like a bastard son of T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy,” replete with a choir of gospel singers. Conversely, Lyre of Orpheus is a more pensive album that conceptually and cryptically retells the Greek myth of Orpheus. The title-track opens with Cave singing an acapella intro before disjointed and shambolic instruments come clanging after Thomas Wydler’s finessed drumming like drunken escapees from Tom Waits’ basement. “Babe, You Turn Me On” moves slow and beautifully with bitter romanticism, but “O Children” closes the album with the kind of weighty, heady darkness you look for in a Nick Cave song.