Paul's Tomb: A Triumph

Recording information: Baker Studios, Victoria, BC; Quadraticus Studios.Photographer: Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii.British Columbia's Frog Eyes have amassed a substantive body of work since their 2002 debut, and their fifth full-length offering, Paul's Tomb: A Triumph, stands hoof to horn with the best of their efforts. The inimitable Carey Mercer is still a force to be reckoned with, and his frenetic delivery and seizure-inducing lyrics are in full effect, but there is an elegance in the chaos this time around (can bile mature?) that suggests a mild sea change for the bloody pulpit, indie rock preacher/secondary school English teacher. Nowhere is that more evident than on the epic opening cut, "Flower in a Glove," a slow-building nine-minute love rant that toasts "A saint, a flower in a glove, a night made for the raising of your glass." It's hardly the soundtrack to flames licking at your feet, or the audio equivalent of naked, writhing succubi plucking out your eyeballs in a