By Monk
Taking their name from one of Cocteau Twins’ more distinctive and obtusely magnificent tunes, it is not surprising that this debut album from German trio Seekers Are Lovers follows a similar breadcrumb trail of electronica-infused darkwave gothicism, albeit delivered with much more of a post-apocalyptic industrial DM groove and vibrancy, eschewing the melancholic laconism for one more approaching mayhemic dissonance.
Drawing on sounds as diverse as latter-day Depeche Mode with post-mood swing Muse, SaL explore the darker depths of the EDM-meets-metalcore mien into which the likes of Enter Shikari and Eskimo Callboy have injected so much verve and vigour, but drawing the sound back to a more Eighties-infused sense of laconic laissez-faire more suited to leaning against the wall and absorbing the vibe of what is going on around you than leaping into the heart of the pit…
Certainly, the dark gothicism is very much prevalent, with lyrics about walking through streets filled with corpses, but there is also a sense of atavistic energy: a revelling in the dark, mystical revelations that generic predecessors such as Sisters Of Mercy and Fields Of The Nephilim have brought to this musical mien, which sees searing guitar riffs crash and collide into dense, pulsating rhythms with natural synergy, which help the songs to broil and bubble with a not-quite released explosiveness, all the more effective for knowing that something is being held back rather than unleashing that nuclear “pow””. Overtopping this is a beautiful vocal performance which both complements and contrasts, mingles and nixes to sublimely beautiful effect, as epitomized on my favourite track, ‘Cold’.
‘Nepenthes’ the album takes its name from a drug that Helena, the wife of Menelaus, was given by an Egyptian queen and which, when mixed with wine, was supposed to eliminate suffering, chase away fear and sorrow and make all illnesses be forgotten. She’s supposed to have doped him with it before she fucked off with some other bloke and started a war… For the 40 or so minutes of this album, you will definitely ignore the suffering and sorrow in the world around you and forget anything but immersing yourself in its weirdly attractive pleasures.
- ‘Nepenthes‘ is out now.
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