By Jase Walker
It comes as little surprise to me that an album from Pelagic Records lands in my lap given how many of their artists I talk about (at length) in a lot of my gig reviews and to people in general, Playgrounded are another solid example here of the atmospheric and almost avant-garde type of artists that Pelagic keep in their roster.
Their latest release in the form of ‘The Death of Death’ comes in at six tracks, yet each one of them aren’t exactly what you would call radio friendly but not like many artists that create music under the large umbrella of prog really seem to care much for that, I very much don’t either so I’m going to get my teeth stuck into this.
Opening with ‘The Swan’ and it is immediately home turf for anyone who’s familiar with the likes of The Ocean: slow, crushing riffs and grand ebbing passages swell throughout, a melancholy drone which carries the song from start to finish so it’s little wonder they’ve ended up on a label like Pelagic. The mix already stands out as well given how much attention is given to keeping the overall sound clear while not losing out on the gravelly low-end that the song has such a focus on.
‘Rituals’ very much in keeping with the theme set out by the opener while being driven almost exclusively by a consistent rhythmic dun-dun-dun from the bass guitar while the melodies are carried by a post-rock-esque tremolo picked reverb and ethereal vocals. It’s definitely not all-in with the post-rock or even post-metal vibe but it’s almost certainly taking leads from that style of writing between less busy and almost quiet passages leading into huge swells and eventually a huge crescendo to finish off.
‘The Death of Death’ edging more towards intense rhythmic playing and extended breaks forgoing more melodic elements and using much more electronic effects to the point where this could be closer to some Goth Rave stuff from the ‘80s and ‘90s; ultimately this track feels more like a story with a dark, pulsing backing track.
For the fourth track, ‘Tomorrow’s Rainbow’ the heavier elements are dropped almost entirely in favour of more Goth like elements, even Depeche Mode type influences seem to shine through here, or even Tiamat, it’s a bloody interesting track in contrast to everything that’s come before it. I feel like Playgrounded’s songwriting really shines through when there’s more emphasis on use of electronic and synth sounds like they have with this song and stands out quite a fair bit more than the rest of the album.
‘A Road Out Of The Flood’ is a return to the earlier tracks on the album with using more drone styles of playing and doomy elements that give them a trademark pulse that stands out as a common element throughout the album. Admittedly I’d love to see this sort of stuff in a live context because The Ocean also uses this sort of playing to great effect and mixing that with live lighting and feeling the crushing low end would really sell these songs.
Finally playing out the album with ‘Our Fire’ which mixes the throbbing, grinding style they’ve put on display throughout ‘The Death of Death’ but merging in the stronger Goth elements that made ‘Tomorrow’s Rainbow’ shine so brightly, this along with harmonised vocals makes for a fantastic outro here.
Overall, it’s a solid album. It doesn’t outstay it’s welcome with a huge amount of long songs, each track serving to tell a part of a story, something that’s fairly common for prog artists. The album does feel like it’s a set of songs that are designed for a live show though rather than something you could stick on and easily listen to while going about your day and I feel that ‘Tomorrow’s Rainbow’ is very much the standout track on the album because it’s an eclectic mix of styles that i’d love to see them explore a bit more.
FFO: The Ocean, Cult of Luna, Mastodon.
- ‘The Death of Death’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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