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Richard Wileman & company have returned, with another installment of Karda Estra. The Age of Science and Enlightenment eschews the overt concept album format that defined the three previous albums. However, the signature instrumental textures associated with this project, such as Wileman's classical guitar and piano, Ileesha Bailey's whitewall of vocals, and Caron Hansford's woodwinds, are all present and accounted for. Though not having an overarching literary source of inspiration as was previously, numerous artistic references are presented, such as "Talos," ostensibly named for the automaton of Greek mythology and "Carmilla," the female vampire of the gothic Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novel. There is also a three-part suite entitled "The Return of John Deth," based on a painting by Edward Burra. These pieces generally beckon from the same purlieu of tenebrous harmonic color that was found particularly in Voivode Dracula. There were two tracks, however, that stood out to me as novel. "Am I Dreaming You? Are You Dreaming Me?" was my favorite track on the album and returns a smidgeon of rock influence that has by and large sat out the band's last few albums. Driven by a 3-3-2 rhythm that is typical for rock, the piece opens with soft cymbals and the crisp pluck of harmonics on an acoustic guitar are illuminated by lightning flashes of chafing electric guitar. Whenever the chafing guitar dies down and the gentle sprinkles of xylophone fill the space, these briefly bring to mind David Bowie's instrumentals during his Berlin-trilogy era. The track builds greatly in tension and mystery, adding inaudible voices like Art Zoyd and the nightmarish swell of Ileesha Bailey's harmonies. When the piece reaches its climax, the sparse nature of the upfront, throbbing 3-3-2 bass, together with keyboards, cymbals and snare drum, also evoke a post-punk influence. Another very different piece is "Bones in the Moonlight," one of the movements of the "John Deth" suite. Wileman's theremin-guitar balloons over the bouncing jangle of a macabre carnival below, added with off-kilter triplet picking on acoustic guitar of Frippian dexterity (cf., "A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur" off of The League of Crafty Guitarists' Intergalactic Boogie Express) and prominent saxophone. This piece presents a comic side (though still with a dark, Danny Elfman underpinning) to the Karda Estra name that is less often seen. Apart from these two tracks, I would characterize this album as more of a tying up of previous work than a launching off into an altogether new plane of exploration. In that it seems mostly to summarize, this album may prove to be somewhat of a letdown for fans that already have the previous albums. At the same time, it would be pretty incredible indeed for anybody to top three successively excellent albums as Eve, Constellations, and Voivode Dracula. On the other hand, Wileman's ability as a writer working within this domain is still as strong as ever. Therefore, this album is probably most suitable for new fans and those who are interested in discovering Karda Estra but don't yet have anything by them, or for those who simply at heart love the sound of the band as it is and that's all there is to it. review by Joe McGlinchey — 11-5-06 —