Isn’t it funny how sometimes albums find us, often just at the right moment or time in our lives? As summer draws to a close (did it ever start?) and the gloom of colder, shorter days and long dark nights hangs over us; winter is coming. Then the beautifully gothic album from dark rockers End of Green drops on my lap. Void Estate is the ninth album release via Napalm Records for this Stuttgart band and it promises “a maze of goth, doom, metal, doleful alternative and deep-rooted pain”.
Ever a sucker for great album art work, I’m instantly drawn in by the haunting, hollow face on the cover. Its dementor-esque ambience as I listen to the album chills me to the bone; I’m engulfed in a wave of dark, morose lyrics and feel my soul slowly evaporate.
Opener “Send in the Clowns” is sorrowful. There is pain and sadness oozing from every word Michelle Darkness delivers, yet it is uplifted by melodic hooks and keys that balance it perfectly. Drawing you down deeper is second track “Darkside of the Sun”, a far heavier doom ballad that sits heavy in the chest. Harsher vocals backed by a slow chugging bass submerses you in an abyss of gloom.
“The Door” will have you playing it continuously on repeat. Beautifully catchy choruses that show a softer edge to Michelle’s dynamic vocals, express his angst intensely. “Head Down” is a more melodic number tinged with bluesy vibes, and it takes you on an intimate journey of loneliness.
A cover of Calvin Russell’s “Crossroads” sits perfectly at this point on the album and it yet again lends to Michelle’s diverse vocal range, Nick Cave instantly springs to mind. The production on this album really exposes each instrument without burying any of the vocals, on an album like this you need to hear and feel every word.
Desparate lyrics in “The Unseen” and “Dressed in Black Again” are equally balanced with inspirative and uplifting hooks and choruses that lighten the depressive nature of the songs. However nothing will stop you from drowning in loss in the lengthy, emotional cavern “Mollodrome”, the band bearing their very hearts and souls in every breath and note. “City of Broken Thoughts” is just stunning, a real highlight towards the end of the album which closes with the epic “Like a Stranger” eking out every last drop of emotion the band have to give.
Eleven tracks in all and not far off an hour in length, you must allow yourself time to absorb and experience this album in its entirety, preferably in a dark room. You cannot fail to be moved by it. It’s dark, heavy and painful, which is exactly what you want from an album like this.
Void Escape is out now.
End of Green: official | facebook | twitter | bandcamp
