post rock / post metal

Well, I must admit to being very glad that January is now over. Even on the scale of terrible months since lockdown started, January takes the prize for most depressing month. I sincerely hope this review finds each and every one of you as well as you can be, better days are ahead folks, hang in there, we will get through this together. 
I find myself becoming increasingly dependent on the need for the comforting nature of music these days. I know I bang on about it all the time, but there is something inherently cathartic about listening to something which makes you feel good. Todays offering which has gone some way towards helping me through the overly moribund nature of January, has been the new album by Wolfredt. 

Wolfredt are a post-rock band based in Tallinn, Estonia which started life as a one-man bedroom outfit as an outlet for the creative tendances of Margus Voolpriit. With the latest album Tides, Margus realised that to properly realise the full dynamics and ideas he wanted, he would need extra musicians to help with the delivery, and so we have this album made by a 4-piece band. Let’s take a look into what they have created.

The songs on this album generally fall into the heavier side of post-rock, sometime diving into post-metal territory but use pulsating electronics which enhance rather than stifle, they make heavy use of dynamics and distortion to tell the tale of the endless cycle of life, with all of the ebbs and flows that entails. 

Album opener The Flood is, in my opinion, quite an odd choice for the first song. It’s quite heavy in a way the rest of the album isn’t. It’s also very dense and doesn’t really unpack its secrets on the first listen. Repetition and layering are the order of the day but buried beneath that are a surprising amount of melody and texture which rewards close attention as it’s not apparent on first play through (at least not to me anyway).  

Next track Walrus Song is all about the rhythm section, which locks into step and gives the track energy and drive. It does also have a splendid guitar lick throughout though, so there is that. The whole song keeps building and adding more distortion and layers until, like a crashing wave, the music breaks apart, crashes back into itself then breaks apart all the while building into a roaring finale which is powerful and quite cathartic. The next few songs continue with the ebb and flow which the band convey so well. The band show a great tendency for technical looping and repetition laced with flashes of emotional ambience. The song The forgotten Man is a great example of post rock done as it should, it’s initial clean guitar picked intro draws you into a cosy embrace. Before flowering into a full band offering with unexpected and glorious use of the trumpet and a meaty finale which hits like a truck, it’s a real triumph.

I must also pay special attention to final song The Ebb. This song takes us on a real journey, it’s a churning, bubbling song full of twisting melodies and guitar passages hidden just under the surface, its tapestry of distorted guitar hides an intensity which seems just out of reach. It’s beguiling and is exemplary song craft, a real highlight of the album and a grand way to finish the album.
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Overall, the whole album manages to get across exactly what the band are trying to convey, and the song writing is a real achievement. I can’t see this album leaving my album playlist any time soon and would not be surprised to see this album on a few end of year lists, it’s that good. I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone interested in post-rock music, and the way it’s written means that it should appeal to quite a broad spectrum of music lovers as well. Quite simply, it’s very, very good indeed. 


Simon

post rock / post metal

My album of the year back in 2019, which seems a lifetime ago now, was “The Last Second” by Their Methlab. It was like a breath of fresh air to me at the time. Its was bursting at the seams with groove, swagger and psychedelia. It took a giant step outside the box, and then took another few.

So, I must admit I was licking my lips with the news that Their Methlab were releasing a mini EP (It’s basically just two tracks!). Enter “Tsunami”.  After my first listen I was in a state of euphoric confusion. This wasn’t a sequel to the “The last second”, or even bonus tracks from 2019. It consisted of two pieces they wrote a long time ago, at a time when they dabbled, and were greatly influenced, by a more metal inspired sound.

First up is the track, “Venice”, an old-school, high octane anthem that hits you with thunderous force and energy.  It has the signature “Their Methlab” guitar tone, but this is a no frills, guitar chugging, drum pounding jamming session. It's dripping in energy and intent , and has that feel good vibe I got from the likes of Pijn and Conjuror’s “High Spirits”. It draws on your energy reserves and just keeps on taking.  This is music played for the love of playing the music, and wearing your influences on your sleeves. 

There is an excerpt entitled “Demons!” nestled in between the two tracks, which seems to take some old horror movie passage, put a twist on it, and cleverly use it as an intro to the second and final track. 

“Dremel” kicks off like most songs end, with those big grand finale, arm swirling riffs. However things quickly shift and the tone begins to develop a “Tool-esque” groove that has that incredibly catchy off kilter beat to it. The song continues to build and opens into a flurry of sound and speed, teleporting me back to the days of the classic thrash metal bands with their never-tiring speed and intensity. The track leaps back and forth from lead guitar highs  to chaotic riffs and monstrous drums and then an abrupt end.
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With only two songs to speak of, some may say it’s not worthy of a review, but for the energy and enjoyment that these tracks give, everybody needs a bit of “Tsunami” in their everyday life. It may also give you a reason to check out their previous release “The Last Second”, a decision you will not regret. I’m already looking forward to  what these guys conjure up next because they certainly have the imagination and creativity in abundance. Watch this space!.


Pat O'.

black metal

Sometimes it can be really hard to be objective. Last year, Afsky released an awesome record, that deserved all the praise it got, and the mastermind behind new black metal act Udånde was part of that. Vendetta Records is one of my favorite black metal labels, because of all their awesome releases like Ultha, Verheerer, Sunken, Naxen and so on; Udånde releases on Vendetta. Records that give you something to think about; Udånde gives you that. So how objective can this review be?

Let’s start with the obvious: Rasmus Ejlersen (or R.) knows how to write really good songs. They are deep, atmospheric and breathe a lot of life and images. A glance at the tracklist can make one scratch his head: “+, Prologue, ?, ?, ?, ?, Epilogue” are the song titles which hint at some kind of movement and story, hell even some kind of frame to the whole record with “Prologue” and “Epilogue”.  And if one digs a little deeper, this storyline becomes even clearer, for example when “Prologue” has the lyrics “The water withdraws and hides / Proclaiming my acceptance” or “Calmly I gaze towards the path / Appearing before me”. But where will it lead the narrator? And then it hits when looking deeper at the lyrics: “? , ? ” are also symbolic representations of the content: the “?” seems to symbolize the smoke of the fire moving up, a fire that burns from within the narrator, while “? ” mentions that the narrator is being “dragged further down” and the same symbology can be seen for the other two songs; “? ” mentions “the ocean floor” below the water line, “? ” talks about the earth behind pulled up by strong winds and the narrator being buried beneath it at the same time. Finally, the “Epilogue” has the narrator admitting that he has “brought this upon myself… Now the sun is dead / And the day went black”. Quite a lot to digest and think about, thinking man’s black metal. 

Musically, one cannot deny the power of the songs as they really draw one into their realms. He is combining some of the fine moments of early Scandinavian Black Metal, note “Prologue”, with some very nice post-black metal moments, as in the third track where the arpeggios spiral higher and higher while the drums slow down and the song exhales thunderous storms on the cliffs of some Danish coastline. One has the feeling that R. tried to make music that sounds as if it coming down upon the listener – mind you it is not overwhelming as such, it is rather showering the ears in warm, brilliant music than embracing you. That is something that Udånde has in common with their labelmates Ultha who are also able to give you the feeling of understanding you, supporting you and trying to help you up by giving you something to aim at. 
The vocals are interestingly a lot like The Ruins of Beverast, deep and with a lot of growls but only randomly a classic black metal scream. This narrator surely knows that it’s his own fault that the end has been brought upon himself by himself, so this is more resignation and less despair, which is the most adequate way.

This combination of uplifting music and downtrodden melancholic lyrics is a trademark of many good atmospheric black metal who incorporate post-rock elements into classical black metal structures. Life Of A Purist is surely an album that makes it easy to not be objective as it has so many trademarks that make a good record that will keep you listening closely and thinking eagerly.


Thorsten

dark ambient

Noctivagant Collective

We cannot deny that dark ambient has a connection and roots with black metal. A good example is the Portuguese dark ambient project Sílení. Valter Abreu  was the artist behind the one-man progressive black metal band Necromanther. Nowadays he releases under the name Sílení an interesting combination between ambient and pure cinematographic passages from the darker side of the musical spectrum.

Sílení continues further to create eerie worlds of murky and mystical sound structures. He already drew attention with his previous album Long Forgotten Bowers (on Eight Tower Records) and with contributions on the mind blowing compilations of Zero K and Eight Tower Records. Once you step into the world of Sílení the sonic landscapes will take you beyond dark ambient standards. Every track contains stunning haunting sounds that evoke thoughts of desolation and decay. The nine tracks are fine tuned with all kinds of effects and background sounds (wind, piano, industrial shards) which enhance the enigmatic atmosphere of this album.

All Heavens Rejoice is a digital and physical (CD) release on the Noctivagant Records label from Albuquerque New Mexico (United States Of America). The label is also aimed at the more obscure and darker genres of music. Sílení presents a splendid dark ambient piece featuring guests like Uzbazur, Moloch Conspiracy and Xerxes The Dark. All Heavens Rejoice was released at the end of May 2020. We couldn’t let this supreme dark ambient recording be floating around in oblivion forever. Dark ambient fans will dig this release.
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Patsker

doom

When a young band comes up with an impressive album riding the razor’s edge between Death and Doom Metal it should always be noteworthy, just like Sepulcros’s debut.

Sepulcros from Portugal are like a basilisk for they spread fear and incite admiration. The young band will release their debut “Vazio” via metal institution label Transcending Obscurity in March and as this label is known for handpicking some of the finest acts in underground heaviness, one should be sure to check out this mesmerizing record. On their Facebook account the band seems to emphasize the words “Vacuidade Humana” - ‘human emptiness’. This definitely sounds pretty misanthropic and in some way that seems to be another parallel to the monster mentioned before!

Slowly pushing its head out of the abyssal hole it was born and bred in, this venomous hypnotizing monster of a record is able to leave the listener standing still in awe and waiting to be eaten alive by this wave of sound and atmosphere. The band is able to show all elements important for a good atmospheric doom band (or doomy death-metal, if you need another label): Slow acoustic elements as at the beginning of “Hecatombe” where the band really gives guitar heroes NZ and RT the stage for more than two minutes, which are filled with a wonderful intro simultaneously full of relief and mantras just before the drums kick in and the whole song turns into a rollercoaster from slow and melancholic to deep and frightening. And even within this longtrack of nearly nine minutes they are able to find short moments of passage so that it’s not a full-fledged descent all the time. These shorts rest and upwards movements are even more impressive because it becomes clear that this is not a one-hit-wonder band, but that they are here to stay. 

When listening to the vocals by SB it becomes clear that this snake here impresses you with its seductive mix of hellish shouts and screams and purgatorial growls, here the words themselves are probably important (one cannot know without the lyrics) but the most important point – as with many atmospheric doom bands – is the way the vocals are embedded into the sound. Where other bands might use a synthesizer to create some levels or spaces, Sepulcros uses one of the guitar lines to lay out vast riffs, while the other adds some short noisy elements or start to drive the song forward with a beefy riff. And in these moments the vocals are important because they are settled over the initial moments when the riffs start so that the audience is (somewhat) accompanied into this next part. And whenever the vast-laid guitar parts becomes more important again, then the vocals are set an inch further back in the mix so that the audience is also taken by the hand and lead towards the next part. The latter is of course very important for long tracks like these here.

Nevertheless, one should not say that this record doesn’t seduce in a visual level, because it has a cover done by maybe the greatest mind in modern 21st century cover painting – Mariusz Lewandowski, whose covers for Falls of Rauros, Abigaill Williams and especially Mizmore are among the most innovative ones you can find. Yet the Polish painter never seems to fall behind in his paintings, they always hit you as “a Lewandowski”. 

To put it all in the shell of a basilisk egg – Sepulcros deliver an impressive debut for any metal bands and even more so for the small confines of atmospheric doom metal with lots of well-incorporated death metal-elements. One can not but listen to the dense hissing and chanting of the writhing snake slowly pushing itself higher and higher until it towers over the listener who cannot run away because it is also enamored with the sound of the monster which is about to come down and that will not give him rest until the replay button is pushed.


Thorsten

blackgaze / post rock

On a wet and dreary winters evening, one of lifes little pleasures is chilling out with a bottle or two of ice-cold beer and passing a few hours wandering through the vast euphonic wilderness that is Bandcamp. I tend to get lost in it every couple of months, and when I do, there’s a great sense of triumph and gratification when I unearth a band whos sound instantly clicks and has someting unique about them. Back in 2017, I came across Denmarks Nordsind, and their EP “Efterar”. 

It was an EP laden with fantastic melodies and power. I was hooked, root-and-branch, by its “blackgaze” greatness. Nordsind had something unique in their sound, something that was very distinguishable but at the same time I couldn’t quite nail it down. Either way, the vinyl was purchased and it has spent many happy days spinning its magic!. So here we are in 2021 and the great news is that a full album is due for release in March in the shape of “Lys” (Light in English). To say that I'm excited about this album is an understatement, and after listening to it on repeat all week, I can honestly say that it has delivered big time.

Before the music even begins, the first thing that will catch your eye is the heart-warming artwork of Joshua Macquary. It’s a charming and spellbinding piece that compliments the album title and concept perfectly. The opening track “Lo” kicks off proceedings with  some breezy, swirling guitars. Mid-tempo drums kick in, and the music begins to sculpt and shapes itself. Rich guitar tremolo picking and a parallel bass line fill the air with harmony and melody. As the track opens up and changes pace, the guitars continue to swirl and whip up a formidable wall of sound that  will have you on a musical high. Its a really strong opening track.

“Portræt I Skygger” crashes in with a stirring melody and dips its toe into that heavy “post black” sound without ever fully committing itself to it. It holds back just enough to whet the appetite and keep you on edge. Drums start to dominate the track and control the music until finally, the shackles fall, and you are given that powerful release you’re craving for. Double bass kicks and blast beating drums play with great force, while the guitars drive forward with that opulent and rampant “blackgaze” sound. This track really showcases the tone and resonance that Nordsind radiate. Their riffs, to me, are unmistakable.

“Når Himlen Falder, Kommer Lyset Tættere På” and “Drømmefanger” follow with all the beauty and grandeur that has already come before it. Rich emotive passages of music are interwoven with full on atmospheric crescendos. Its warm, honest and heavy. To add to the drama, some haunting and soul-stirring trumpet playing is added to the mix, creating some hair-raising moments to lose yourself in.

I remember watching these guys perform on the Vivid Festival virtual experience last year. The emotion and power in their delivery was electrifying to say the least. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Nordsind have something unique in their sound that I was unable to pinpoint at first. I now think it's down to their ability to create soundscapes and melodies that are natural and organic. Their music flows effortlessly, beautifully simplistic and unforced, but still decisively  harmonic. Its wholly immersive.

The track that has been released as a teaser is “Mørke” and is a strange choice on first listen. A distorted and curious intro fills the air before some sultry guitars gently serenade the listener. Watery vocal synths roll over the music and form a warm, calm ambience. There is an expectation that the pace of the track will pick up and grow into a big crashing crescendo, but it doesn’t. Instead, it simply fades out into the distant hinterland. For me It seems more like a closing track of an album with its serene and restful ending, but hey, what do I know!, it's still a gorgeous track.

The last two pieces of music on the album “Midnatssol” and “Ilddåb” are Nordsind at their heaviest and fastest. Swirling blast beats with gorgeous riffs and steely bass dominate the space. Interludes of calm and tranquillity only serve as moments of reflection before getting swept back up into the throes of a blackgazed frenzy. 
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This is a very solid and stirring release that should put Nordsind right up there with all the current “blackgaze” favourites. This album is a tale of both joy and sadness that is told through music. If you crave the spirit, melody and measured ferocity that the “post black” / “blackgaze” genres bring, then “Lys” must be on your to do list. It has all the ingredients needed to become a contender for AOTY.  

Pat O' 

dark jazz / electronic

Where were you when you first heard something unique? Something that you had never heard before. Sure, we can all accuse any band or artist of being derivative. There are only so many notes, so many combinations and so many instruments in the world… everything we hear is bound to have been done before, right? How about taking a mixture of darkjazz, then mixing in a pinch of metal vocals and finishing it off with a healthy handful of middle eastern spice?
Sounds pretty tasty, doesn’t it? Good news. It is.
Mansur is a project that takes full advantage of the talents contained within its confines; and believe me, there is a lot of talent at work here. 

Jason Köhnen, former supremo of the brilliant The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, has joined forces with metal vocalist Martina Horváth and acclaimed Oud player, Dimitry El-Demerdashi. Despite only three people being involved, the feeling conjured up is enveloping, entrancing and warm.

Each member of the trio brings with them elements of their past work, but then push themselves further to create something unique. Dutch musician, Köhnen’s work with TKDE trod a definite evolutionary path in the way each album was made and produced. Each release brought electronics more into the spotlight, but very consciously aimed to lower the artifice of the sound and make it more “organic” sounding. Dimitry El-Demerdashi is of Russian origin, but has lived all over the world – notably spending the 6 years post the Arab Spring in Egypt, learning to play the oud under master player Naseer Shamma. Martina Horváth’s vocals should be well-known to fans of Thy Catafalque, appearing as they do on the band‘s albums “Naiv” and “Geometria”.

From the opening seconds, the album wears its elements like a badge of honour. The atmospherics blend perfectly with Horváth’s ethereal vocal, while Dimitry’s middle eastern scales and runs can either burst into the room or blend in with the furniture – but they’re always perfectly-weighted.

When it comes to thematic interpretation of the track names, there seems to be a definite lean toward Stoic Philosophy – the school of personal ethics informed by its system of logic and the natural world. Stoicism teaches that the path to happiness is found in accepting the moment as it arrives, to not be swayed, or controlled, by thoughts of pleasure or pain - accepting fate, helping the plan of nature, and treating others fairly. 

This makes perfect sense when listening to the album. There’s a very definite sense that each individual contribution to the tracks winds around the others, supporting and strengthening them, and helping to push the music forward, stronger and brighter. There is a real sense of being present in the moment throughout the album. Each passage of each track, each flex of its musical bicep, each twitch of its rhythmic eye, each moment captures a feeling and then moves on to stoically face the next.
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With “Karma” being Mansur’s debut album, the band members have successfully evolved each of their individual talents and woven them into an aural blanket. There appears to be no ego at work here – each musician seems to bring their talent to the kitchen and they’re mixed to perfection.


Ben

synthwave

Enzo Kreft (real name Eric Vandamme) is a devil do it all. This Belgian underground cult legend released some interesting minimal synth tapes in the dark eighties. In the year 2010 his music came to life again on the Underground Belgian Wave Vol.2 compilation from Walhalla Records. Since 2016, Kreft has released a number of new albums. His previous album Control showed that Enzo’s revival wasn’t just accidental. He received a lot of positive reactions to his work(we were also under the impression of Kreft’s kick in the butt album Control).       
On Different World Kreft carves deeper and more detailed into his dark realistic themes filled with dystopia. The inspiration for the album’s production was served on a golden plate with the global virus problem emerging from scratch. Anger and despair are fused in atmospheric waves of dark electro wave. Kreft translates his perceptions of a society losing control of everything, into cold but honest lyrics. The decay of our planet has, to his opinion, only one culprit and that's mankind led by the ostrich politics of its leaders and lobbyists.  

Different World has a wild variety with ripples of echoing cold wave synthesizers and EBM with dark beats. At first, the album had to sink a bit because of the awkward and intense subjects that thrive among the songs' catchy vibes. Enzo Kreft again produces professional work with an unseen dedication. He wrote all the lyrics, played all the instruments, took care of the artwork, mixed and mastered the album all by himself. Result: another bull's eye!     

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Patsker

stoner rock

Heavy Psych Sounds

We all know about these long-forgotten records that are part of the fame of some bands – take Beach Boys’ Smile as an example. Church of Misery from Japan have been one of the premier heavy stoner/sludge bands this side of the millennium with their heavy instrumental vintage sound and the whole serial killer theme. Twenty years ago, CoM-bassist Tatsu Mikami and then-CoM-guitarist Takenori Hoshi founded Sonic Flower together with drummer Keisuke Fukawa and second guitarist “Arisa”. In 2003, they released their only record a six-track EP Sonic Flower. More than a rumor, the world knew that the band had entered famous Branca Studios in Barcelona to record a follow-up, but those songs never saw the light of day.

Until now and until Italy’s specialty label Heavy Psych Sounds not only rediscovered the recordings but also were allowed to release them, what they did at the end of January, when Rides Again finally is available for our eyes to behold. Tatsu re-formed the group in 2018, and (rumor has it), has already loads of new material, but first he wanted to give us this present. 

And my, my, my – what a ride this record is. 28 minutes of psychedelic stoner, with nods to all things heavy and like a bridge between the old and the new waves of heavy rock. Of course, the production is not clean like many regular heavy metal albums nowadays, it’s raw, rough and unpolished. When the distortion towards the end of the opening track “Super Witch” sets in, there might be quite a lot of stereos that cannot deliver its total crispy touch. 

The songs sway between acts like Captain Beefheart and Sir Lord Baltimore, Mountain and Cactus. They are super heavy and fuzzed out to the max, but never over-steered or trying to show off, as they want to pay real homage to their own idols. They also do so through the two cover songs on the record – “Earthquake” by Graham Central Station and “Stay Away” by the Meters. The band is all about the good old time when fuzz-rock was a thing next to funk and rock. 

“Jungle Cruise” is the highlight of the record with the brilliant guitar work that is somewhere between Afrobeat and Krautrock, some Mountain-like country rock and some flirry Jazz stuff. But the most impressive thing about the song is Fukawa’s drumming that is basically a pushing and emotive tribal beat that really makes your body sweat. Sometimes one hears about a song from this genre being the perfect soundtrack to a blaxploitation movie – the same can be said about “Jungle Cruise” but here the scene is a high intensity car chase along the New Orleans streets jumping in the Bayou.

Don’t expect anything surprising on this record – the band didn’t run amok and totally changed their sound and songwriting. What you get is what you wanted all along. Dry fuzz, awesome drumming, intense riffs and some modulations that do not seek attention gently but that will pull your head back by the hair and then give you one of the most rewarding, sexy kisses you ever got. Every little bone in your ear will be aroused by the unearthed treasure chest that is Rides Again.


Thorsten

post rock / ambient

France is said to be the birthplace of cinema with it's innovative style and flair and it's fearless approach with experimentation. So it's not surprising that bands like Flyingdeadman, Lost In Kiev and Oak for example, are artisans at seamlessly integrating film into their own craft. It's a signature sound and style for a lot of bands in the “post rock” genre, but some bands are simply better than others when it comes to effortlessly blending the two art forms.

If I ever had the talent and ability to create music, Flyingdeadman's latest EP "The Night" could easily be the blueprint for it. For me, “post rock” needs to be emotive and melodic. It needs a lot of intensity to it, and have the ability to change your state of mind and play with your emotions. Now, even though this release is based on the 1968 sci-fi/ horror movie "The Night Of The Living Dead", I find a lot of what I mentioned in it. There's something incredibly warming and nostalgic about its sound. It's a captivating piece of haunting “cinematic post rock” .

Flyingdeadman's 2017 album, "56 Seasons" was also an immersive and enchanting release, charged with an array of emotions. It was an album I had on repeat for quite a long time, so I was surprised that this EP was released without me realising it. I need to start paying more attention!. However, better late than never, and as I envisaged, it wasn't long before I was under its spell.

The opening scene of "Reaching Out" starts off with some mellow, soothing guitars and nonchalant drums. Calm and soft spoken passages begin to tell the story, with the music reacting to the feelings and sentiment within it. A sublime bass line kicks in, with eloquent guitars creating drama and suspense. Everything slowly builds with slightly distorted guitars, all similar in feel to Lost In Kiev's "Nuit Noire". Nothing is rushed, as the tension starts to build and trepidation creeps in. Heavy and burly guitars gradually take the lead and you're led to a crescendo that doesn't quite explode, but instead leads you into the next track.

Track two, "Barbara" gently unfolds with soft reverbed guitars and muted drums playing over a pensive and haunting melody. Voices fill the air and you just can't help but be moved by the mood and the emotion of it all. The arrival of some gorgeous guitar picking builds on the intensity, before Barbara's distress and dismay is taken over by hysteria and impassioned pleas. It paints a heart-rending and inconsolable picture that is both tragic and overwhelming. 

"A haven and a jail" will have you remembering We Lost The Sea's "Challenger part 2", with the gorgeous guitar tones and airy vibes. Rolling drums pave the way for an influx of sound, energy and positivity on this track, with similarities being made to Way Stations album "The Ships". Flyingdeadman make this seem easy, but its a real talent to be able to incorporate all these sounds, samples and passages into one story, and do it seamlessly.

The heavier and more forward thinking track "Dawn at the gates" kicks off with its big bold bass line dominating the intro. It gathers pace and reaches a thumping climax with everyone playing solid and heavy. This is all in contrast to the final track on this EP, "Hopes and an open heart". Its breezy and translucent ambiance resonates and fills the air before a mini crescendo develops, and quickly departs, before cradling you back down to earth.

It's a short story, but it captures the imagination and keeps you enthralled throughout. A full album may have lost some of the intensity and drama that this EP delivered on. However, I would love to see a full album follow this in 2021 and maybe sometime down the road, experience them performing live. But until then, the EP is a "name your price" on Bandcamp so be sure to pick it up, it's a no-brainer.

Pat O.