Concert Review: Cloud Castle Lake Make Life Feel Mythical


Sometimes, the things we think are against us are actually for us. Not every pain stems from our hurt as much as our discomfort at being forced to lose old ways of thinking and feeling, in exchange, for newer ones that have the potential to make us better. I kept having this notion as Cloud Castle Lake played their Rockwood show.

In the small stage, under keys and chords that laced through like a music minefield, Cloud Castle Lake sung to the moments when life forced us to grow when we were perfectly fine as we were (lol!). When you are good in situations, it is hard to think you need to be better as a person. Daniel McAuley’s vocals is the heart of this notion, and THE MAN CAN SING! He hit a high note that almost summoned an angel. His rich, higher register spears through tracks, “Bonfire”, “Twins”, and “Sync” like a bell in a tornado.

Cloud Castle Lake do NOT make short songs. Their tracks can be 7 minute opuses that change tempos, tones, and themes to make you feel like you are listening to a myth. Their music enraptures you as it plays like the audio recording of Aesop’s Fables. Yett, lyrically, the protagonist is you, and McAuley is your inner voice trying to tell you that the best way to fight life is to surrender it. Only then, when you infiltrate its plans for you can you begin to have say in how they go. As woodwinds, baselines, and drums spin in rhythms, McAuley becomes your stillness, and you cannot help but want to hear him in your mind forever.

I walked away from Cloud Castle Lake’s show feeling like, THERE IS SOMETHING HERE. I knew this would not be the last time I saw them, nor the biggest venue they would rock. Their music is too artful, elaborate, and connected to what people are feeling right now. Humanity does not really change spiritually, but it does heighten. I am sure every human being, right now, goes through the same emotional highs and lows that other individuals have gone through a thousand years ago. Time advances society, but the question is whether it advances your soul. Thus, it is beautiful to hear Cloud Castle Lake make songs that feel like sonic, legends meant to remind you that your life can be told, someday, like its own epic myth. For More Information on Cloud Castle Lake Click Here.