This new Russian Circles track features vocals from Chelsea Wolfe and sounds amazing. It's probably the only part of the album that includes vocals and may serve as the "ballad," so it's tough to say if its indicative of the overall quality. Still, I'm excited because I like the direction they've been taking lately. In the past, Russian Circles was flashy and bombastic with tracks like "Death Rides a Horse" from their debut. Their most recent release, Empros, is much, much darker and atmospheric. Another track from the new album, "Deficit" is positively grimy in its theme and production, but ultimately extremely listenable. If most of the album sounds like this, then I'm definitely on board.
I'm considering checking out some of Chelsea Wolfe's work because Wikipedia makes her sound pretty interesting. Admittedly, the name of her newest album (Pain is Beauty) puts me off a bit, but its unwise to judge a book by its cover. Or an album by its cover, I guess. Lately I've been really in the mood to discover good new music but it doesn't always just fall into your lap. Rosetta's new release, The Anaesthete is really good. It's the first thing I've heard from them since Wake/Lift many years back. I liked it but I felt like it was a little inconsistent, despite "Red in Tooth and Claw" being an amazing track.
Rosetta is one of only a few post-rock inflected metal bands with harsh, screamed vocals. Isis and Cult of Luna are another two common examples. I really enjoy the juxtaposition, but I can understand how including harsh vocals in your work could be polarizing. Sometimes the kind of person that enjoys spacy, atmospheric music isn't the same kind of person that enjoys screaming in their music. Still, Isis is probably my favorite band ever (and their early work is incredibly heavy anyway) and I love Cult of Luna too. I'm glad Rosetta has a super solid release out now, though I'll admit I haven't checked out several of their more recent albums.
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