Frozen Taco presents the eleventh album: Dark World. Copyright 1992-2002, Frozen Taco. Music: Theron Welch Lyrics: Matthew Reiss. Dark World was recorded at the Bedside, Columbus, Georgia during the summer of 1992. CD insert photo: Frozen Taco at the Bedside, Summer 1992.
Listen to the entire album:
Or download the tracks:
If it were possible to pick my favorite Frozen Taco album, I’d spend a lot of time, maybe a majority of the time, pondering Dark World. To me, it’s the most consistent of all Frozen Taco albums. The sounds and themes are so closely related to each other that each song unmistakably belongs with the next. This album came from a time when I was really interested in harmony and applying new and exciting chord progressions, modulations, and so on. I was also listening to a lot of new classical music at the time. I often practiced taking interesting sections of pieces, like a
The CD Cover of "Dark World"
short sequence of chords, and, while isolating them just to the guitar, taking them in different directions and applying my own flavor to them. I recall using this technique in such songs as Westward Bound, Final Farewell, and Transitions. However, of these three songs, I only recall using Chausson’s Poeme for Violin and Orchestra for inspiration; the others sources I don’t recall! Sometimes, it wasn’t the hearing, but rather noticing a passage of music that looked interesting, playing it on the guitar, and moving the song in my own direction until it eventually transformed in to something completely new. It’s also interesting looking back on the songs because I did not conciously intend to write so many minor key songs, but the result worked nicely with Matt’s lyrics. Of all the Frozen Taco albums, this one, and a handful of others, easily stands the test of time for me as quality compositions and are just as much a delight to listen to now as they were when they were freshly recorded.
Theron Welch, January 2004
I wrote the lyrics for Dark World in the summer of 1992 – a year of great turmoil for me. I had just graduated from college, and I was about to travel 1,000 miles west to Kansas to begin law school. This impending drastic life change weighed heavily on my mind. Dark World was a therapeutic way of exploring some of what I was feeling.
Dark World is perhaps the most subtle member of the pantheon of FT’s “theme” albums. Myth & Man, Illumination and Visions, Dreams & Nightmares all have identifiable themes. In Dark World, each song is dedicated to a different emotion: fear, pride, loneliness, doubt, hatred, loss. It’s a fitting title for an album filled with somber, gothic tones.
Recording the album, "Dark World" (long time ago)
Westward Bound is the song that best encapsulates my state of mind that summer. Even now, listening to that song evokes a vivid memory of that difficult year. My mood definitely had an impact on what turned out to be the most pessimistic FT album, ever. It’s also one of our best works. All of the songs were carefully crafted, and the attention to detail shows. The first time I heard Theron’s musical concept for House of Years, my jaw dropped; it is an undeniably great tune. Starfall, our first swing beat song, is an FT classic.
Matthew Reiss, 2004