Adam Arcuragi - Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It Review

Adam Arcuragi is looking to raise more than a few spirits from the grave on his third LP. I don't know about any of that mambo-jumbo, but he did make a pretty darn good record.

Adam Arcuragi - Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It (2012) – 7.2 / 10.0

Release Date: Jan. 31, 2012
Running Time: 43:56
Label: 12th Street Records
Genre: Alternative Singer-Songwriter, Chamber Gospel
Drug of Choice: Cheap Wine, Cigars
Key Tracks: 
"You'd Think This Was Easy"
"...Riverrun"
"The Well"

Adam Arcuragi is an artist worth inspiring a bit of interest if, for no other reason, the surrealistic version of country that he calls 'death gospel'. What any other novice (namely me) might say about Arcuragi's style is that it is straightforward Americana/Roots backed by the same epic chamber style that has powered groups like Arcade Fire for a few years now. I hesitate to drop the Arcade Fire reference here, however, because Arcuragi seems to avoid the type of pretentious self-importance that can eat away at that band's songs. I honestly don't know how he does it though. It must be the power of the Spirit.

The defining characteristic of the music here is Arcuragi's low register vocal delivery. Instead of the gruff, blunt force delivery of an artist like The White Buffalo, Arcuragi's singing shares a certain singular idiosyncrasy with an artist like Jonathan Richman, or more recently Big Harp. He repositions easily between the light-hearted swing of "Parliament of the Birds" to the heavy, gargantuan push of "The Well". The latter of which is the strongest moment on Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It.  My only serious complaint with Arcuragi's performance is that I wish he'd spent more time letting everything fly as freely as he did on this track.

I do have a bone to pick with the production of Like A Fire however. Throughout the record, the sound is somewhat flat, which I think is a problem particularly for Arcuragi's style of music. I want this guy's strongest moments to hit me like a twenty foot wave. These songs build for a massive payoff that the sound just can't deliver. I don't think this is a problem with the song's themselves, and I am really interested in hearing how Arcuragi and crew will perform them live. Altogether, the production isn't even close to being bothersome enough to keep me from recommending this record. Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It displays a singular artist with a passionate love for his songs. I'll get behind that any day of the week. Preach it brother.

Purchase Adam Arcuragi's Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It

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