I have a soft-spot for female-lead heavy metal bands, and this EP presses its fuzzy, lo-fi, thigh-high boot heel directly into it. The lead singer croons like a 60’s rocker over collapsing waves of distortion, samples, feedback and even violins. The song “Man of Stated Age” fades in slowly with a psychedelic vibe, tribal drums pounding like footfalls, before the grunge collapses in. A melody for doom, a choir from a mossy cemetery.
It’s admirable that with all the layers of noise, it still feels melodic and full of tension and crescendo. It would be easy for music this style to end up messy, muddy, more of a stain than a brush stroke. It grinds up guitars before dropping out into quasi-industrial noisescapes, all accompanied by Blev Lavoux’s thoroughly enjoyable lyrical style.
The comes “Bad Winter”, which augments her choir-like choruses with further waves of noise and distortion. The melodies poke through the squeals and grime, like a flower growing amid charcoal. It builds like a burnt and twirled combination of Messa and Sigur Rós.
It’s not quite shoegaze, it’s bootgaze. It’s not quite doom, it’s symphonic dreary. It’s not quite industrial, it’s a beautiful broken music box. This is music for anyone who likes a little beauty in their eulogy.