Gothtober - She Past Away : "Mizanthrop"

 This album came out back in February, and I'm not sure why I waited the bulk of the year to check it out. Not that anything drastically new is happening here; by their own admission, they are reworking a 90s darkwave sound. The Turkish band has a very specific formula they work off  , and it continues to stay in motion here, with perhaps more nuanced guitar parts that are not just droning on. The male vocals are really the only link to a Sisters of Mercy sound, his approach continues in a hushed, breathy baritone that utters lyrics from behind a smoke-veiled shroud of sound. But they do not have the rock punch that Sisters of Mercy has, so the drive is not as booming. 

After three songs, I begin to start wantign to hear a greater range of dynamics. There is a more dialed-in 80s sound this time around, but it only goes so far. "Inziva" finds the beat holding a similar BPM and cadence; they also continue to use the same intervals in the melodies. This might be why I did not immediately jump to check out their album. If they do this same thing on the song after this, I will officially begin to become bored with them. Just because they are a darkwave band and you want to be goth does not mean you should expect less from any of the new big names of the genre. Boy Harsher jsut delivered a banger, so that should be the expectation of every band. With that said jsut playing a louder version of what you were already doing is lazy dynamics.

There is a marginal shift on "Kaypan...". The vocals all sound the same, so that acts as a bit of a hindrance in fully getting behind what is going on here. The guitar sound has improved on this album; it's one way to see their goblet half full. The synth pulses have not. "Kuyui Maar" is danceier; if you are a goth DJ, I imagine this would be the song you would throw in your set from this album, perhaps the beat does not hit as hard, but everything else is more refined. It might be the album's best song. The last song highlights the colder wave vibes they give off in their more stark, detached attitude porjected here, there is less pageantry than what I expect from the more emotive dark wave. They take their time leading into this one, which leads to an almost six-minute song. I guess if yo uare a DJ that needs to go to the bathroom, this plays in your favor, but it is not as groove-oriented as the previous song. Four minutes in it dramatically breaks down andd still has no vocals; what they are doing is not intersting enough to make for an instrumental But they think otherwise. I will give this one an 8.5. jsut based on the fact that it's well done, well produced, and creates the hypnotic sound they are known for, but it feels like they are a bit of a one-trick pony, so if you are a fan of what they do you will like this, but you are probably bored as well. 

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