At the end of last year we had a sequence of three days with reviews of new releases by three different projects/bands that all shared one musician: Jeff Wilson, known for his work in many bands like Abigail Williams or Wolvhammer. A few days ago, Wilson’s project Deeper Graves released its next record and of course, I had to give it a listen and also a review as happy about the record as I am. Enter: The Colossal Sleep.
Wilson’s solo-project helps him to showcase yet another of his musical love affairs after Chrome Waves and their atmospheric post-gaze, the blackened noise of Contrition or the dark shoegaze of Altars of the Moon; Deeper Graves is a mix of atmospheric industrial and lively post-punk and The Colossal Sleep is definitely a step more towards that industrial character and away from the rather raspy soundscapes of its predecessor Open Roads from 2020. It’s little less classic 80s-Reagan-era but more late 70s/early 80s-Thatcher-era sound, so in some way it resembles more the British Post-Punk scene rather than the American one. It’s more Bauhaus or Siouxsie and the Banshees than Devo or Talking Heads. And the probably best element to pin-point it on are the drums, for they are crisp but not cold, and the sound is driving and pushing, less experimental and rock-y.
Wilson’s new record starts out with two stammeringly good tracks: ”Feverish Dreams” and ”Escape Velocity”, the first one being the shortest track on the record and the closest to the sound of Open Roads, especially until the guitar revs up and thunders along at roughly half-time; at that moment the track turns from electronic rock to a noisier version of Post-Punk. The latter is then being confirmed by the perfect drumming and basslines of ”Escape Velocity” and before anybody wonders where he heard the voice before: the vocals on this track and on ”Corridors” were done by Wilson’s old friend Heath Rave, with whom he was together in Wolvhammer.
”Escape Velocity” and the third track ”In Cold Blood” are the standout tracks on the record, especially the noisy third track which has a nice, pumping beat and adds some industrial riffs and soundspheres which share some similarities to the ongoing synthwave trend of our time, but with less colorful veins and more steely arteries.
The record radiates this kind of nostalgia combined with a very good, modern but not overloaded or too loud production and one has the feeling as if every, literally every, beat and riff and soundscape falls perfectly into place. If you like any of the bands mentioned above, or also modern bands like Bambara or Ropes of Night, then you should give this project a listen. I am pretty sure you will like it. If you are a fan of Wilson you will like it anyway, just like me.
