Catching up with 2018 -Ebsen and the Witch : "Nowhere"

This is not our first rodeo with this British band. I do like the darker and more intense direction this album finds them going in. Even though there is the occasional blast beat as an accent it's not blackened anything. It's not metal. It's kind of like if you took the last Emma Ruth Rundle album and made it heavier and more somber. It starts off with a sonic drive that was looking in a metal direction without going there. This is not a bad thing it's a good thing as it stays true to their sound and allow Rachel Davies to give what sounds to be her most impassioned vocal performance on this album to date. While the compositions are often spacious and minimal when they do a sort of post rocky thing with dynamics and build it up they churn out a sound bigger than what you expect from a trio.

The second song is not as initially intense as the opener and took another listen for me to click with it 100 percent. Then " Golden Purifier"  is more atmosphere and kind of drifts , working more off  the mood. "the Unspoiled" finds the vocal lines returning to something with more to sink your teeth into. Thus making me as the listener feel more connected to it. The drums patter around things in the background rather than hitting you with a beat. So her voice much like many of Chelsea Wolfe's songs is the glue holding this one together. The lyrics are rather bleak and are about the earth crumbling away. The songs never really venture past the seven and a half minute mark so are more compactly written than the bulk of post-rock The guitars do gather some fuzz and density in places.

Much like the previous song "Seclusion" relies on the vocals for the glue. Musically the songs went from the heavier feel of the first two to taking on more of a restless drifting. They don't get back to the heavier place until the last song "Darkness". This has more of a pounding pulse while the emotive vocals yearn in the midst of it's storm. The drums continue on with the more tribal pounding. What works for this album is vocals and the melancholy mood this create which is one of those times when how you feel connects with the music you are listening to. I think the drumming could have locked in a little more rather than let everything float on the same dark waters with out course. In the end despite this there are enough elements that connect to make it work and the album create a cool mood so I'll round it up to a 9 though unless I am depressed not sure how many listens I'll get beyond the first two songs.