Rope Sect : "Personae Ingratae"

When the low baritone croon comes in the first thing I think about is Beastmilk. Lyrically there seems to be a fair share of bleak death worship. For a trio they kick up a pretty big sound. Much like early Beastmilk there is a rock n roll sound . More so on the second song,where the drums have more of a Nirvana like pound. "Pretty Life' finds a dark more western flavored guitar sound ringing out like the desert at night. I am more impressed when I find out these guys are from Germany, as that is not the landscape I see when I hear this. There promo pack which is always deceptive , references them as being death rock. I don't hear that I do hear them being solidly post-punk. The vocals are too dead pan in their croon to strike me as death rock. I see death rock as being more indulgent in it's emotional excesses no matter how many drugs they are on.

There is a more straight forward indie rock feel to "King of the Night". The drums once again a more explosive drive to the song. "Recess" has a more exotic quality to it's chord progression that makes me think of Wovenhand. There is a darker harder rock feel to the ominous "Ochlesis" . The drummer continue to really bang away at their kick to give an explosive propulsion to these songs. The more melodic break down is one of the album's best moments vocally. Though his croon never really gets belted out it has a more velvety touch here.They are back to rocking harder with "Death is Your Lover" . The vocals sit back into the mix a little more here. Overall this song is a little straight forward. "Rattenkonig" has the first touch of metal coming out of the verse. The verses are more subtle and remind me of 60's psychedelic. In someways they are like a male counterpart to Purson, though less prog and more grunge.

Overall this album was a real surprise for me and has been already awarded with heavy rotation, So I'll give it a 10 and see how it grows on me . While it's not full on goth. It is darker and moody. If I am digging it like I am then it means something as I am pretty jaded when it comes to this sort of thing and I could have easily gotten defense for it to come to close to the place I hold as a sacred memory in my heart for Beastmilk.