A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms

Like many well-known bands that deserve my attention, I am the latest to the party in giving A Perfect Circle their due. Although they had been constantly recommended to me by a close friend, who was more than willing to let me borrow their CDs, again and again other records took precedence. I knew very well that Maynard was (and is) a god of vocalization, and the one song I had heard before I remembered as being interesting, but it wasn’t until a long car ride soundtracked by Mer de Noms that I delved into APC’s music, and found myself utterly shocked at just how good their debut record actually was. 

With music composed over a decade by guitar guru Billy Howerdel, Mer de Nom’s multifaceted pieces push the band to explore the furthest reaches of their sound palate. While tunes like “The Hollow” and “Judith” bring heavy guitars and slamming drums, “Rose” and “3 Libras” intertwine Paz Lenchantin’s violin with a dreamy darkness that is as beautiful as it is threatening.  Similarly, “Thinking of You” toys with industrial noise and electronic beats, and the spacious “Renholdër” seems to give voice to a Middle Eastern desert. And while excellent production values, drop tunings, and minor-key song structures almost warrant a comparison to their nu metal contemporaries, Mer de Noms exudes a confidence and maturity that far surpasses the rest of the noise that surrounded it in the year 2000. 

There is ostensibly a lot of flash to the sound of Mer de Noms, but one of the more subtle aspects of Howerdel’s approach to his songs is his delicate application of time signature. While most of the composition sits in a comfortable 6/8, Howerdel pushes different sections into different territories, such as starting "Rose" in 6/8 before tacking an extra beat on later in the song, or switching between 6/8 and 4/4 in “Thomas.” He even takes this idea to the extreme in “Sleeping Beauty,” featuring an intro in 13/8, a pre-chorus in 6/8, and a chorus that plays once in 6/8 and another time in 4/4. Although he has a severe penchant for odd rhythms, Howerdel applies these technical thoughts with such delicacy that they are virtually unnoticeable to all but the trained ear, adding nuance without standing in the way.  

Certainly, Howerdel is a defining force in APC’s monumental sound, but it is the star-studded lineup he collected that launches these tunes into the atmosphere. Paz expertly holds down the core of each song in rhythm, yet pulls all the energy from her bass into the spotlight for “Rose” and “Breña.” Chugging along with her and second guitarist Troy van Leeuwen is drummer Josh Freese, who brings both a temper and a temperance that effortlessly match the string section’s roar. This trio gives definition to Howerdel’s compositions on Mer de Noms, creating a backdrop that allows his composition to shine without pushing the rest of the act to the wayside. 

The instrumentation of Mer de Noms is a fierce entity, but no member brings more energy and humanity to the music than lead singer Maynard James Keenan. With an amazing vocal range and an even more complex emotional one, he seems to link his very soul to each song, tapping into spiritual states so immersive that the listener is sucked in with him. Like Billy, Maynard varies energy, style, and even mindset with each song, sounding a battle cry in “Judith” only to croon through sadness and suffering in “Orestes.” He leaves nothing out, drenching every note with the full essence of his thoughts, the full scope of his headspace, imbuing each song on Mer de Noms not just with feeling, but with its very own ghost. 

If Keenan’s technical singing brings a soul to each song, his lyrics imbue them with memory and emotion. Maynard has stated that he views “music as a result of the relationship with the people you’re surrounded by,” and as such, many of the songs are named after the person they are about, while others are named after mythical figures whose stories bear a resemblance to the lives of people he knows. Both “Judith” and “Orestes” appear to address Keenan’s relationship with his mother, while “Renholdër” is written for future APC member Danny Lohner. As Maynard puts it, the music on Mer de Noms “is really personal, so I gravitate more towards personal-relationship issues in these lyrics.” Maynard dives deep into himself to wrench each word of this record out, which not only makes for an amazing listening experience, but also one that is, in Keenan’s words, “a lot more dangerous.”

Keenan also focuses his writing on Mer de Noms through a few specific themes. Sexuality runs heavily in some of the songs; “The Hollow” gives a very poetic voice to sexual urges, while “Thinking of You” seems to be a very tactful description of masturbation. On the other side, religion is also often approached. “Judith” and “Magdalena” reference heavy religious ideas and images, while “Thomas” seems to be a personification of the doubting apostle. Keenan wrenches down universal themes and injects them with his personal experiences, creating compelling pieces of writing to which anyone can relate, yet that pull the listener in like a close friend listening to a confession. 

Between the superb writing and impassioned performances, Mer de Noms is truly a tour de force of sound and soul, and its no surprise that it debuted higher on the charts than any rock album before it. It is a record loaded with integrity and honesty, brute fury and dolorous sentiment, all executed with a flawless precision that demands attention. I mean every word when I say that I have not been able to stop spinning this record, that I cannot convince myself to listen to anything else on my commute. Mer de Noms rings with a truth and intensity that I have not heard this clearly in a long long time, and one I do not expect to hear again for a an even longer while. 

Tunes to Check Out:
1) Thomas
2) The Hollow
3) Thinking of You