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Their 2014 demo 'MMXIV' hit me like a hammer, and ever since I've seen Bathsheba live I have been liking the shit out of this band. As you can read in Serge's review of their 2015 ep 'The Sleepless Gods', this household has been looking forward to the first full-length for quite a while now. I can't imagine a better cure for this writer's block...
The album will be released in the end of February. Yet the label Svart Records gave a very nice christmas present to the fans: one hell of a brand new song to release some pressure off your box of expectation. Devour "Demon 13" with your ears and eyes here.
Wait, are those grunts?
And is that sludge?
A saxophone?
According to the music expert of the house: yes. Bathsheba have surely gained the confidence one needs to leave the safety of one genre and go out exploring possibilities. I'm quite sure that's because of their appearence on some of the greater doom festivals here and in our neighbouring countries for the last two years. Should you be able to go see them live, don't hesitate, it's a very intense experience that might haunt you for a while...
On 'Servus', two awesome older songs have been re-recorded, "Manifest" and "The Sleepless Gods". I have the impression that these have been performed a tiny bit differently than on the demo and the ep, but I can't lay my finger on what could have altered. Probably it's just the contrast with the four new songs. Besides the musical evolution, also singer Michelle's vocals have expanded. She's got it all in her Swiss army knife: haunting whispers, angry cries, howls of despair, imploring & demonic chants, but of course also that unmistakably heart-piercing, versatile alto that we know from Bathsheba's earlier work.
Musically the roots of doom can't be pulled out - which, in my opinion, is an excellent thing - but as mentioned before, other influences have made their apparition. Don't call it sludge, pagan, symphonic or black metal either, it's just a unique and very personal blend. It reminds me at times of old The Gathering (with Anneke van Giersbergen) or Primordial, but this is and stays Bathsheba and I'm sure this album will end up very, very high in my best-of-2017 list...
Eline
The album will be released in the end of February. Yet the label Svart Records gave a very nice christmas present to the fans: one hell of a brand new song to release some pressure off your box of expectation. Devour "Demon 13" with your ears and eyes here.
Wait, are those grunts?
And is that sludge?
A saxophone?
According to the music expert of the house: yes. Bathsheba have surely gained the confidence one needs to leave the safety of one genre and go out exploring possibilities. I'm quite sure that's because of their appearence on some of the greater doom festivals here and in our neighbouring countries for the last two years. Should you be able to go see them live, don't hesitate, it's a very intense experience that might haunt you for a while...
On 'Servus', two awesome older songs have been re-recorded, "Manifest" and "The Sleepless Gods". I have the impression that these have been performed a tiny bit differently than on the demo and the ep, but I can't lay my finger on what could have altered. Probably it's just the contrast with the four new songs. Besides the musical evolution, also singer Michelle's vocals have expanded. She's got it all in her Swiss army knife: haunting whispers, angry cries, howls of despair, imploring & demonic chants, but of course also that unmistakably heart-piercing, versatile alto that we know from Bathsheba's earlier work.
Musically the roots of doom can't be pulled out - which, in my opinion, is an excellent thing - but as mentioned before, other influences have made their apparition. Don't call it sludge, pagan, symphonic or black metal either, it's just a unique and very personal blend. It reminds me at times of old The Gathering (with Anneke van Giersbergen) or Primordial, but this is and stays Bathsheba and I'm sure this album will end up very, very high in my best-of-2017 list...
Eline
