Altar Of Eris come from Seattle rather than some imagined Sci-fi Planet or the town in some LARP landscape alternate world. This is the bands second release following on from the Table Of Dischord Cassette they put out at the start of the year. This six-track mini album was recorded while on lockdown so the Isolation of the title is to do with the feelings created by being in the midst of the Lockdown.
From The Opening Three-Fold it's obvious this is music to be played in a room full of dry ice or smoke, so if you don't have your own Dry-Ice machine get a friend to sit vaping voluminously to get the atmosphere right, this is dark goth dance with a bit of a Alien Sex Fiend Liquid Head In Tokyo vibe to it and it feels very claustrophobic as they intone how Curses come back Three-Fold.
Transmigration opens with a burst of Kraftwerk style Synths before the drum machines come in to add a layer or three of doom that are only accentuated by the dark dark lyrics for our diseased time with a bass line that sounds like it comes from something by A Project or it could almost be like Into A Circle, well at least that bands recorded work, certainly not the live farrago as I would never want to compare anyone to that mess.
Labyrinth Of Tears is the song on the ep that most lives up the bands claim of Clan Of Xymox as a key influence, a band I never expected to influence anyone when I first started seeing them live in the 80's, but this is gloomy and dark as much of this year has felt it has an air of despair around it as we keep crying for everything that has been lost this year. This song also sounds like it could be re-mixed with a more overt Dark Entries style bassline to bring out the ominous reality of the Labyrinth we are all in.
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Violent Dreams is slow etiolated goth glitch that's at a funereal pace and sounds like in needs to be heard at ear splitting volume in a cavernous space to really shatter the illusions and make sure I don't try recalling which of the Skeletal Family's slow songs it reminds me of no there is no peace.
Someone Else sounds like they are playing the blame game as the drum machine and synths do their best to sound as if Dave Barbarossa is being sampled as we get deep into the dark guitar lines and the deepening abyss they are falling into before the cool whispered ending.
The Ep closes with Your Ghost that sounds like a Club Antichrist or Reptile floor filler perfect for doing some skinny body bop moves to as the drum machine kinda goes a bit Combichrist and the synth noises wash through in a very cool way.
Find Out More at https://altaroferis.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/altaroferis
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