Dealing with loss is something that should not be taken lightly nor should it be brushed off to the side. The grief will find you and cripple you, your mental health could suffer in ways you never expected, and the process of working through the pain and trauma takes a very long time, the work never really ending ever.

 “Of Blood and Memory” is the new record from avant-garde doom duo To End It All, and these songs act as a means of dealing with loss, trying to move on and continue life after someone important to us passes on. These songs, which are sonically much different from what we heard on the downright gutting “Scourge of Women,” feel purposely more delicate, guiding the listener into the heart of pain and trying to create a way to spark remembrance and help process the myriad emotions that come with such a traumatic event. The band—vocalist & multi-instrumentalist Joy Von Spain and sound artist Masaaki Masao, both of Eye of Nix—are joined by cellist Lori Goldston (formerly of Earth who also played live in Nirvana) and vocalist/guitarist A.K. O’Neill (from Serpentent) to add more texture to these tracks that are awash in dark emotion and sounds that aim to align with grief. By the way, there also is a remixed version of the record being released as a companion piece on the same day, which lets you hear and absorb these pieces in a different form.

“Introduction” opens and add haunting sounds into your psyche, clean singing hanging overhead like a coming storm, the calls, “Burn like blisters,” resonating. The title track starts amid racket, guitars melting as mechanical noises strip gears, a synth haze pulling over a blanket of energy. Shrieks carve before synth pumps dress the anguish with steam, a dreamy stretch ringing out. “Hunt (Root Out the Source)” runs 9:12, hovering with drone like an engine, animalistic howls digging under your fingernails. The playing is vicious but also airy, the sounds rushing through, industrial pressure becoming a bigger factor as the insanity collects. The heat pressurizes and suddenly turns icy, the clanging bouncing off the inside of your skull as everything fades. “Foreign Tissue” lands with cello scraping, choral calls swirling as an angelic beam warms the surface, the aura feeling lovely but foreboding. A synth sheen collects, darkened traumas bubbling to the surface.

“A Year of Lapidation” brings lush synth and singing rising, the fluttering aligning with your heart palpitations. Howls carve as pained energy jolts you, the drums smashing as voices echo. Rush-like keys glaze, adding to the dark drama, the synth dissolving into clouds. “The Drink of Silence” is eerie as sounds dance over coals, the singing icing your wounds, echoing and floating through a dreamscape. The playing feels lighter, almost weightless at times, the voice swimming amid heat lightning. “Oyasumi” starts with pianos dripping and strings, lush singing circling the floor, the softness landing with unexpected directness. Static waves fall, pianos continue to pelt the ground, gorgeous and sorrowful playing trickling, eventually consumed by fire. The heat blazes, the clouds gathering and heading toward a warbling end. Closer “Elegy” is a goth-fueled front, the singing teasing a liturgical sense, revealing a sense of vulnerability. Von Spain’s operatic calls reach a swirling high, swelling and resonating, filling your chest with energy and emotion that brings you to your knees before letting you see strange visions.

“Of Blood and Memory” is a record that isn’t suitable listening in all situations, which is a compliment and a warning. This is a different side of To End It All, one that works to align with the rawest of our human experiences and the devastation that it leaves behind. It sounds like a gorgeous collection of music that should be something that soothes the darkest hours of the day; but it hides with it something that opens wounds that never healed, and you must face that head on in order to truly live again.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/TEIAnoise

To buy the album, go here: https://www.romannumeralrecords.com/merch

For more on the label, go here: https://www.romannumeralrecords.com/