2021 has seen in the return of the two synthwave/darkwave veterans, and this time both have decided to mix things up a little bit. Earlier this year we saw Perturbator return with Lustful Sacraments, which saw him introduce post-punk elements and begin to shift away from traditional synthwave sounds. Now it’s the turn of eight year veteran, GosT, to throw his hat into the ring of a scene now seeing its tectonic plates move.
Regular listeners of GosT will have noticed the return of vocals first introduced on Valediction across the four singles; “A Fleeting Whisper”, “Bound by the Horror”, “Coven” and “Burning Thyme”. The latter two being the two closing tracks, which is always a bold move for an artist to make. Along with this the reliance on synth is reduced, with black metal sounding guitar riffs and heavy drumming beats replacing them.
“Bell, Book And Candle” gives the album its opener, a short and introductory track that we have come to expect from the genre and GosT himself. The ritualistic lines and an eerie, textured beat are an ideal way to ensure this is a starting track that listeners will not daze through.
What follows next is something that will throw listeners against the metaphorical wall. “Bound By The Horror” comes across as a statement by GosT that things have changed. The pounding tempo accompanied by the blast beats is a violent attempt to rip your ears off, in a positive light of course. With black metal-esque screams present again while slightly muffled, fit in with the overall structure of the track.
Unfortunately, after here is where the album begins to take a slide for the worse. While I fail to fault tracks such as “The Fear”, “We Are The Crypt” and “Embrace The Blade” on an instrumental level, vocally the tracks are a significant step down. On the lighter side of things, on the latter mentioned track there is a deathcore-esque breakdown which while a risky move, is put together perfectly on the track.
As mentioned, however, while there has been a step up with the instrumental performance on previous albums, the vocal performance isn’t quite up to scratch. Outside of the harsh vocals, which are delivered well, there is little variation in range overall. The almost spoken-word vocals on each track, which seem to mainly adjust pace to the beat of each song make each track feel all too similar and detract from the album experience quite harshly.
In “November Is Death”, we see a return of the ritualistic-esque vocals from the opener,, which blend in perfectly with the backing beats and synths. The final quarter of this track gives a refreshing element to the album that should be provided more often: vocal features. In previous albums, such as Non Paradisi, we had seen the use of features from people such as Hayley Stewart and Kriistal Ann. While such features have been absent from the previous two records Valediction and Possessor, they would have been a welcomed return on Rites of Love and Reverence. Now listening back to tracks such as “Supreme” from Non Paradisi, those lyrical performances would have provided an ideal mix in vocal performance to stop the album from feeling stale towards the midway point.
The previously mentioned album closer “Burning Thyme” I am torn on. It is an expected slower-paced track, which I am admittedly a sucker for when it comes to the finale of an album. In a first for GosT, we see the introduction of an acoustic guitar, fused in with chunky bass synths. While it might sound like I am changing my tone, the dry and minimalist vocals are fitting for this track. Just as the dreamy closer seems to fade out, a clangy beat and intense vocal performances are introduced. While likely intentional to lure the listener in them give them a surprise, it merely made me wish for this sort of sound earlier on in the album.
Much like the aforemore mentioned Perturbator album, there is potential here with this album. The talent shines through in many places, mostly notably instrumentally. GosT has shown a creative way to develop a now decade old revided genre in synthwave and darkwave. There are plenty of routes James Lollar can take vocally with this project, taking the right one has the opportunity to move from a complacent staple of the genre to a standout star.
6.5/10