“The wife just looks up at the heavens every time that UPS arrives with another new instrument, so my collection is growing with every new project.” To wit, the duo’s latest ambitious undertaking-a two-act, seven-movement concept album called Dionysus based on the Greek god’s multi-faceted pagan persona, which was once vilified by both Christianity and Islam-features all of these disparate Perry-played devices, in order of appearance: zouma, gadulka, autoharp, bowed psaltery, davul, ocean drum, saz, pivana, daf, aztec flutes, rainstick, bird whistles, berimbau, gaida, balalaika, gong, fujara, baglama, zils, zitherm harp, and-of course-a good old-fashioned stone.Ī sonic perfectionist, he knows exactly when and where to use each delicate tool to tell his historical tale, from the opening “Sea Borne” (wherein the outsider Dionysus arrives by ocean) through “Liberator of Minds” (which explores his more hallucinogenic aspects), “The Invocation” (which summons him to the annual harvest festival, “The Forest” (underscoring his back-to-nature message), to a closing “Psychopomp,” exploring his additional role as a guide to the afterlife. “But it is getting ridiculous,” allows the Brit, who now resides in France but first formed his ethereal outfit with vocalist Lisa Gerrard in her native Australia back in 1981. Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, keen-eared Dead Can Dance founder Brendan Perry swears that he hasn’t become a monomaniacal, house-cramming hoarder of arcane musical instruments.