Just as I’m beginning to think that this is all rather pleasant but plain as Winter Severity Index spin webs of smoothly-compressed contrails of a vaguely post-rock persuasion in the form of the Curesque ‘The Wiser’, ‘Severity’ plunges headlong into old-school goth territory, complete with fractal guitars, rumbling, flanged bass, mechanised drumming and vocals cloaked in cavernous reverb. It’s actually pretty good if (like me) you dig that scene, and it sits with the best of the likes of The Danse Society (while being infinitely better than, say, The Rose of Avalanche).
‘While We’re Living’ lapses back into melodic, chiming post punk that evokes the spirit of The Chameleons but through a filter of 80s AOR. The atmospheric elements are in place, but the overall result is music that feels rather staid, controlled, contrived, before ‘Blind Me’ enters stage left and brings with it tension: chill, brittle and shrouded in dry ice, it cuts like a knife before the sweeping ‘Motionless’ brings the curtain down on this beautifully worked reproduction of 1984 in a rush of glacial synths and a thick, phased bass. It feels like home.
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Winter Severity Index on MySpace
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