Weird band name, weird album title, weird artwork, weird song titles... but this shit is fucking awesome. "Spirit of the Stairwell" is the debut full-length from UK trio The Death of Her Money (released by the band, SuperFi Records, and Rat Patrol Records), which drops a mere six tracks in a whopping 50 minutes. This is seriously some of the most uniquely monolithic material I've ever heard. Sure, you could point to a few similarities or influences here and there, but the end result is pretty damn creative. There's some nasty feedback and a dense, destructive, fucking massive sense of crushing heaviness, but most of the riffs and rhythms are colored up with bizarre chord phrasings and incredible uses of abstract melody that really kick into some powerful, emotional surges throughout. I'd say the bulk of most of the tracks is made up of drawn out instrumental passages, but the occasional absence of the distant, hoarsely shouted vocals does little to deter the band's intensity or sense of feeling. The recording kicks ass, too. The bass is, of course, super dense—fluidly pulsing about beneath the surface—while the percussion is crisp and warm, and the guitars range from grungy, harshly overdriven textures to looser, jangly sounding clean tones (obviously accented by some of the looser playing/picking patterns) or swirling layering effects with dissonant swells of movement. I had no idea what to expect from this album whatsoever, but I was hooked in right off the bat. Great work, and definitely one to watch. I'm really impressed...
The Death of Her Money "Scandinavian Accent"
Comments
Holy shit, this track ripped my guts out, haven’t heard anything so, hm, monolithic indeed, since tha last Knut. Perhaps some Celestial or Australasia was in there, but it sounded really unique indeed. Going to check out the album immediately.
6.23.2008 | By inhalexhale
youre absolutely right about this one. great record.
6.23.2008 | By Anonymous
there’s some isis (what else?) in there too. but this is much more involved. along with omega massif, one of the best finds recently. you’re doing an impressive job of describing these bands, andrew.
6.24.2008 | By chris
Yet another band that wouldn’t exist if Isis didn’t. Boring.
6.24.2008 | By Justin
how much bands would be today if there hadn’t been Slayer or Black Sabbath? ;)
6.25.2008 | By Anonymous
I hear little to no Isis in this at all, for one, and either way, this shits all over everything Isis has done in the last five years, at the very least. You want boring? Check out any of the last few Isis full-lengths. (And just for the record I was a huge Isis fan in their earlier years.)
6.25.2008 | By Andrew Aversionline
I like the last Isis, probably mostly because it features the best drums on any of their albums or at the very least since ‘Celestial’. The dude actually plays more than one beat on that record. I dig the rest of it, too, but I can see why some folks aren’t into their newer vocal style and sparser, more post rock riffage.
In any case, I don’t hear anything creative whatsoever in this track by this awkwardly-named band. Perhaps there’s more going on in the other songs? That staccato riff style is totally derived from Isis unless you guys can point out to me who else did it first.
6.25.2008 | By Justin
There is nothing bad with Panopticon for me. It’s very similar to Oceanic but at least for me way better. Still they left important “milestone” for the rest of the bands…
6.26.2008 | By Carlos
“panopticon” is great, “absence…” just sort of plods by you unegagingly. there is a little recent isis to “scandinavian accent”, but you have to hear the rest of the album to really see the big picture (which i’ve just done). very little resemblance. i’m tracking down the “flood of love” EP too.
and i actually love the name and the artwork. if the music were some lo-fi indie bullshit, it would suck. but in this case it somehow makes the whole thing all the more awesome and intriguing.
6.27.2008 | By chris
the beginning of this song resembles some of the Amenra stuff but then they take a different direction
6.28.2008 | By Cornelius
Doesnt everything kind of sound like something?
The only things that dont sound like anything are usually so out there that most people wouldnt grasp on. So if youre really looking for something that doesnt sound like anything awesome that has ever been released then pick up Jud Jud, the accapella grindcore group. or listen to some free jazz.
Isis copied Neurosis anyway, and both of those bands paved the way for awesome bands like Rosetta, Mouth of the Architect, Omega Massif, Irepress and so on and so forth.
Oh, and this band too. Good stuff. Good review.
7.4.2008 | By blend77
For the stacatto riff, try Helmet..
7.4.2008 | By xowainx
this album blew my brains out. I hope they bring out more soon!
7.30.2008 | By scorpinox