Release
date: April 28th 2017. Label: Rise Above Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
Women
– Tracklisting
01. Mother Kiev
02. The Rose
03. The Dancer
04. Raft of Medusa
05. Heroine's
Descent
06. Swan Diver
07. The Last Siren
08. Zohra
09. She Has a Secret
10. Queen of New
Orleans
11. Marianne
Members:
Sera Timms, J. Bennett, Scott
Batiste, Adam Murray
Review
Ides Of Gemini’s new
album is entitled ‘Women’ and it is a somewhat vintage sounding
doom metal album, as if it was crafted over twenty years ago.
The guitar riffs, bass
lines and drum beats are minimalistic in nature, made by a group who
design without technological confusion, thus contributing to the
overall hypnotism effect of this band. The vocals do not caress, but
rather haunt, with lyrics sung in grey, meaning they blend and are
not screamed in contrast against the shrouded dream of music; yet
they are far from withdrawn and more than a mere appurtenance.
The album’s murky
atmosphere could have been released back in the times of early 80’s
doom metal, the coveted kind found entombed within divine recordings
of black vinyl, yet this is a novel recording which constructs a
vitrine for the female vocal art. Sera Timms is an enchantress, who
provides the lull laments and mollified moans perfectly formulated to
seep into the respites of your mind like a knife through the demise
of your heart.
There are few who sound
as organic and ancestral as Ides Of Gemini. The ambiance of cloudy
sustained chord vibrations is crafted with leaden distortion, while
the pluck and pick is constructed with an elementary origin of
scales, all culminating in a doom laden, circuitous sensation. The
uncomplicated drums follow a blueprint schematic, interlocking the
skeleton of the serpent. The semi-dulcet vocals are like a spool of
timeworn thread unwound into your being and embroidered onto your
soul. The overall melodic energy is more analogous to a slow burning
purple candle flame, rather than a roaring reckless red fireball.
The mystical similarity
between all of the songs unifies this euphonious lot into a cohesive,
spiritualistic album. My most beloved tunes are ‘She Has A Secret’,
which suspends and dissolves in creation like a fine expresso and
‘Queen of New Orleans’ which transfers impetus into tender
compassion, pouring in like oily Sambuca.
There is definitely a
noticeable continuity of mood and identity sewn between all of the
Ides Of Gemini albums, so none of the tried and true fans should be
disappointed here.
In conclusion, Ides Of
Gemini are the high clergy who decided it was right time to assemble
as a choir in order to generate power to the congregation through an
altar of music.
Its time to learn the
truth as you slowly drown…Ides of Gemini are on the rise.
Words
by Nick Palmisano
You can buy Women from Rise Above Records now.
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