This Los Angeles-based band plays a darkly melodic and sludge-influenced brand of gloomy hard rock. More metallic in their intentions than Chelsea Wolfe, but they employ an ethereal, melancholic sound with many layers. I dug the mood of the opening track, so it sets the bar high for these gals in terms of being able to maintain this kind of quality throughout. Despite being on the Flenser, I am impressed that there is not a hipster vibe to what they are doing, as they do not shy from the fact that they are not far from being the depressed teenagers who listened to Kittie in middle school. The vocals are sung in a dramatic fashion with great production that uses layered harmonies and effects enough to pull this off. The sludged-out tension things well into "Death of Day" is convincing enough. Harsher vocals begin to swell up under the surface more, but are generally buried amid the guitars.
The downtrodden vibes persist for "It Washes Over," which feels like the last song they are going to be able to stick so closely to this formula without changing things up dynamically. They do back off and let " Hole" simmer a little more rather than plowing on with the bigger rumble. The chorus drones rather than hooking you, and finding some of their sonic spell beginning to falter. The harsher, drier howl of the vocal becomes more prominent, showing they are capable of going there. 'White Noise' finds the overdriven bass line driving the action. There is a more dynamic ebb and flow in this regard, allowing them not to get stuck on one sound.
By the time we get to "Eviscerate," things are heading in a more predictable direction with a more melodic and subdued verse to provide the calm before the storm as the screamed vocals chime in to make the chorus punch. A tried and true formula that has been in motion since the 90s. In comparison, "Octiber" is more of a ballad, which works as it's jsut better songwriting. The vocals are feeling it more here. It was around "Mater Dolorosa" that things began to drone into a uniform sound that ran together, forcing me to go back and give a more careful listen to find where it all faded into the background for me. Things take a monochromatic trudge as the breathy vocal becomes the dominant narrative and a detached ghost of a perspective. Even the last song that finds a little more groove in their dense riffing falls under the banner of what we have heard from them earlier. Despite the uniform nature of what they are doign I will give this album a 9 as i like the melancholy picture it paints. Though unsure how many times i will listen to thsi album since I already favor a few bands who use this formula.
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