Dealing with an illness, whether yours or someone else’s, is an incredibly draining experience, one that takes a long time to conquer both physically and mentally. It stretches you beyond your abilities to cope sometimes, and if you survive, you also live with the fear that it could come back to claim you.
“Atropa,” the stunning new record from E-L-R, doesn’t dig into gruesome details about ailing, but they do deliver an ethereal, thunderous number on your psyche. The band—comprised of duo S.M. (guitar, vocals) and I.R. (bass, vocals), with D.B. and M.K. providing drums—digs into the aftermath of sickness but also tackles emotional upheavals of other types. The six tracks and almost 45 minutes of power whip you through blackness but also into mesmerizing visions, their simmering doom and cloudy passages forming a strange mystical territory worth exploring deeply.
“Oaken Reaper” opens and drives into your heart, the singing hitting ethereal highs, the heaviness raining down and hitting a trancey pace. Sounds spiral as the vocals layer, and a mesmerizing, numbing tone washes over, dissolving into time. “Archeress” (I assume the cover art is based on this) is dark and buzzing, flowing actively, hushed vocals soothing before the playing erupts. The push clouds the senses, gushing generously, the melodies coming down in sheets, the murk overwhelming as the vocals soar, the playing hitting even harder before returning to dust. “Cobalt Wound” basks in echoing drums as the vocals swim, shadowy presences revealing themselves as the band takes a more direct approach. Guitars heat as the power connects, drumming as the steam thickens, the playing temporarily pulls back before throbbing, howls belting open wounds as leads churn.
“Solace Tracery” heats and gusts, unloading and working into a haze, guitars flowing before a gust bloodies noses. The singing stings before the pace pulls back, piano drips as D.B. sings, a sweltering darkness hangs overhead, and screams stab through the chaos. The playing combusts as the singing coats and stretches, sounds cresting and receding. “Saltwinds” has swirling vocals and a pace that jostles, the bass thickening as the storming arrives, and electricity snakes. The playing twists muscles as the emotion stirs, a rigid bassline punching to the end. Closer “Echo Space” runs 10:45, the longest song here, and it shimmers in the shadows, moodiness growing colder, the singing soothing and feeling somber. Dreaminess increases as melodies trickle into noise, spurting lava as a blistering attack devastates, the guitars striking back. Playing pelts as the singing floods, murk wafts, and everything settles into the ripe ground.
“Atropa” digs even deeper into E-L-R’s psyche, and the pain and upheaval that led to this record’s creation bleeds through these six songs. The heaviness and delicacy create a sense of healing and perseverance, moving you through the waves and making sure you feel some of that impact. This is both a brutal and beautiful record, one that should make for a mental trial by fire as we head into the colder, isolated months.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/elrhaze
To buy the album, go here: https://spkr.store/collections/e-l-r
For more on the label, go here: https://prophecy-de.bandcamp.com/
