Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses review
Band: | Emma Ruth Rundle |
Album: | On Dark Horses |
Release date: | September 2018 |
01. Fever Dreams
02. Control
03. Darkhorse
04. Races
05. Dead Set Eyes
06. Light Song
07. Apathy On The Indiana Border
08. You Don't Have To Cry
You liked Marriages? That's cool. You know Marriages is Emma Ruth Rundle's band, right?
Emma Ruth Rundle has been quite a busy artist in the last 10 years. Her first band, The Nocturnes (the indie rock one, not the surf rock one), released its debut EP ten years ago in 2008. Since then, she has released two more albums with said band, performed with post-rock band Red Sparowes on their last album, formed Marriages, and released a few solo albums, too. You might be familiar with Marriages here on Metal Storm, since their latest album, Salome, got both Staff-Picked and nominated in the MSAs in the Alternative category. Her solo work, now numbering four full-lengths, isn't that far behind in heaviness, since Marriages were never that heavy to begin with, but out of those four, On Dark Horses is definitely the heaviest-sounding, so you're in luck.
The dynamic between heavier droning guitar and more tranquil acoustic elements is nothing new to Emma, but On Dark Horses takes what Marked For Death did and puts much more emphasis on the former rather than the latter. So even if it's more electric than its predecessors, and the guitars are rather droning, the sound doesn't feel in any way negative, but in a way quite triumphant, and it gives off a feeling of overcoming that doesn't feel cheesy. The music is definitely moody in its way, so even at its most positive, there is a feeling that all this positivity is in spite of all the negativity and confusion that comes with it, quite in the same way that most third-wave post-rock bands like Explosions In The Sky transmit that moody and nostalgic optimism, but coupled with Emma's '90s-alt-rock-ish reserved but nonetheless evocative vocals.
The very powerful emotional impact that the album has is mostly due to how strong the soundscape behind the voice is constructed and how well the two combine. Emma's guitar playing has been quite a strong quality of her music, but this is actually the first album of hers where the guitar playing isn't entirely hers. This album was recorded after her relocation to Kentucky (might explain the horses theme) with her partner, and his involvement has expanded into guitar-playing as well. The amazing loud but quiet interplay and soundscape-building feels so universal that you could easily find it appealing to indie rock, alt rock, alt country post-rock, post-metal and drone metal fans, which might explain the crossover appeal that Emma Ruth Rundle and other similar artists like Chelsea Wolfe and King Dude have.
Don't worry if, on first listen, you get quite taken aback by "Fever Dreams", the opener, which honestly doesn't feel at all like an opener, rather like a song that should be played after another in a flow. After that misguided opening moment, though, there is absolutely nothing that breaks immersion and said immersion is exceptionally engaging. So now that you've been warned, give it a try.
| Written on 10.11.2018 by Doesn't matter that much to me if you agree with me, as long as you checked the album out. |
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