The Light Brigade
Linus Pauling Quartet: Crunchy on the outside, cheesy in the middle
Then comes undoubtedly the culmination of the band's fascination with all things geeky yet cool, "Waiting for the Axe to Fall," all sweeping guitar lines, insistent drums and medieval terminology. Trace the origin and evolution of this track on the band's blog (http://linuspaulingquartet.blogspot.com) and it's fairly apparent they have a communal agreement that sword-metal is inherently worthy of mockery, but it doesn't stop them from trying to perfect the form.
Interestingly, as the band members themselves note, the legacy of manufactured myths — like the legend of Mournebong, Stonebringer and the Great Singularity — running so stridently through LP4's catalogue closely mirrors the mentality required to take something as ripe for ridicule as sword metal seriously. They execute it brilliantly, yet leave the sneaking suspicion they're laughing at you as you rock out.
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Don't worry, though — they're laughing just as hard at themselves. Though the band maintains the outward appearance of complete seriousness, even in the face of such wonderfully ludicrous material, there's most certainly an element of inherent mischief there as well. Heider's explanation of the album title's origins makes a perfect parting riddle.
"If you get a cryptic message from someone, it's like a dream, and it's up to you to interpret it," he explains. "If 'light' means 'photons,' well, then clearly it's a reference to the Great Singularity where everything becomes a single point of light before pulsing out again and becoming the universe. If 'light' means 'not to be taken too seriously,' then you go back to your original question."
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