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Source: Who Magazine (Australia)
Issue: Date: 1992
Subject: Review - Priest = Aura
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PRIEST=AURA
The Church
Despite plugging away in Australia for 12 years, the Church's name isn't of the household variety a la Midnight Oil or INXS. Instead they tend to go on their merry way, content to be possibly our biggest cult rock band. They do minimal touring, they profess to detest the "Oz Rock" ethic and general music-business bally-hoo, individual members pursue solo projects constantly and every couple of years the band emerges with a new record for faithful.
Priest=Aura finds the Church at their most ethereal in years. Once again lead singer-bassist Steve Kilber's lyrics often dip into the world of mythology, with varying degrees of success. "Kings" is too cluttered while "The Disillusionist" is just plain annoying, with a rousing chorus that almost sounds like it comes from an amateur musical production.
Strangely, the more commercial inroads which the band has made with catchier singles such as "You're Still Beautiful" seem to have been diverted here. Perhaps it can be explained by the fact that the pase two albums were recorded in Los Angeles and resulted in a more streamlined sound, while Priest=Aura was done entirely in Sydney and comes across as being more spontaneous.
There are delights on this album-it's just that they're not of the immediate variety. The biggest, and perhaps the most pleasant surprise is "Chaos", which clocks in at over nine minutes, ebbing and flowing with guitars that alterately caress, echo, squeal and scrape. They should do this more often.