07 « January « 2020 « The RingMaster Review

credit Mark Wallace

As we keenly sink into the creative depths of the new album from Inkräktare once more for the actual writing of this review, it is hard to remember any encounter in recent times as absorbing yet unsettling and as invigorating but disturbingly haunting as We Are Not Really Here. It brings a collection of tracks which voraciously embrace the listener, engulfing their senses and imagination in a proposition as sonically claustrophobic as it is expansive in sound and intimation.

We Are Not Really Here comes ten years after the first Inkräktare full-length and sees producer and multi-instrumentalist Dean Garcia (Curve, SPC ECO, S T F U, Blurred City Lights) creatively and in sound poetically igniting the dark and invasive soundscapes created by his collaborative partner, Mark Wallbridge (a.k.a. Vasko The Pig). It is a riveting union of craft and imagination which makes their new album one compelling trespass which is made only more enthralling by the vocal presence of Rose Berlin (SPC ECO) and Preston Maddox (Bloody Knives and S T F U).

Album opener Speak Out Loud called to the imagination from its first crystalline breath, keys a radiant lure within the darker electronic landscape soon unfolding within ears as the hypnotic tones of Berlin serenade quickly enveloped senses. Even in its enthralling beauty there is a dark intensity brewing within the song; a gathering fume of shadows which just as eagerly captivated as the kaleidoscope of light above them.

The following Say Goodbye To You comes from a more shadowy depth but too brings a magnetic elegance and lure to temper the volatile and agitated heart of the song. With Maddox’s voice another rich lure in the rapaciously mercurial insistence of the song, it invites and devours in equal intensity and craft before Terrified explores similarly dark corners and textures within its drifting sonic winds; nightmare and alluring intimation embracing each other’s contrasting hues. Even with Berlin’s tones a safe caress if succubus like in the haunting embrace, the track disturbs as it seduces while The Night Growls prowls the same mental landscape with predatory intent with Wallbridge’s tones in turn a dark protagonist in suffocating aural and emotive fog. Both tracks simply bewitched the senses and festered in the imagination, the Nine Inch Nails toned latter especially irresistible as it consumed with voracious, tenebrous temptation.

The nagging enterprise and breath of Free The World equally proved a spellbinding exploration, Berlin again a light for the moth of greedy curiosity for the song’s fascination and mercurial landscape while We Are Broken and We Are Not Really Here with their respective electro pop breath and evocative dub nurtured escapade only fuelled captivation even if the first did not quite hit the addictive hazard warning heights of its successor.

Who Cares offers another melodic sunspot in a richly atmospheric embrace while Saphirr Bomb after is like a sonic house of mirrors, each sheet of melodic crystal shattered or tainted by the invasive shadows of darkness as the spellbinding track gripped ears and psyche. Echoing the album as a whole, both songs brought warm light and invasive disturbance to ears and thoughts, a striking enterprise and suggestion just as fertile within the toxically crawling, senses chaffing, emotion disturbing Husk.

Closing with the thought questioning Could There Be?, a sand storm of melodic grains and sonic resonance, We Are Not Really Here is a release which reveals and gives more by the listen. It is an encounter which takes the listener out of step with reality yet throws a provocative light upon all the world’s emotional darkness and physical flaws whilst providing unbridled temptation.

We Are Not Really Here is out now via ELaB Recordings; available @ https://inkraktare.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Inkraktare https://twitter.com/VaskoThePig

Pete RingMaster 04/01/2020

photo by Susan Sage

From its evocative title to the intimacy of its heart bred lyrics alone, the new EP from US indie rock outfit Morning Bells makes for a richly alluring proposition and bound in just as provocative and arousing sounds Fall From The Velvet Sky quite simply proved one richly compelling encounter.

Hailing from Raleigh in N. Carolina, Morning Bells began with the creative union of drummer Bryan Fransman and long-time friend, vocalist Ric Denton. Swiftly the emerging band grew as bassist Laura Weislo was enlisted by the duo with in time guitarist Emory Ball and keyboardist Peele Wimberley completing the quintet. Their sound is said to embrace inspirations ranging from Johnny Marr, Television, and The Gun Club to The Smiths, Yo La Tengo, David Sylvian, and Talk Talk alongside for us upon their first EP a certain R.E.M. scenting.

In saying that, the opening track of Fall From The Velvet Sky has a thick dark creative breath which reminds of Scottish band, The Filthy Tongues. The initial melodic glisten of Ghost Story is soon descended upon by emotive shadows, keys and rhythms united in their gothic intimation even before Denton shares his equally suggestive tones. The psych rock breath of those keys continues to light the haunting embrace of the song, its reflective stroll a prowling instigator on ears and imagination.

The track is superb remaining our favourite moment within Fall From The Velvet Sky with relative ease though its companions like the following Through The Dark are no less potent in their captivation and creative incitement. As its predecessor, the EP’s second track immediately enticed keen attention with its first melodic touch, guitar and keys swiftly engaging the senses before the shadowy lure of rhythms and Denton’s ever magnetic tones and words escalate the enticement. The bewitching serenade of the song simply had us hooked before The Truth Is matched its success with its own absorbing temptation. Pop and rock traits entangle within the captivation woven and addiction bred, thick fascination spawned in the web of sound and voice.

Next up, The Night You Touched My Hand shares an eighties indie pop seduction in its melodies and nineties rock rapacity, a fusion further invigorated by volatile urgency and touches with the result another track which just got under the skin and had us hooked and involved in swift time.

The EP concludes with Tonight; a track which maybe did not quite match up to its companions yet had ears eagerly held and our pleasure in full flow as Fall From The Velvet Sky completed its beguiling adventure. It is a release which quickly and increasingly impressed and aroused, thoughts soon relishing the band’s own imagination us eager anticipation blossomed for the next fresh creative resonance from Morning Bells.

Fall From The Velvet Sky is out now; available @ https://morningbellsband.bandcamp.com/album/fall-from-the-velvet-sky