Junius

Boston, MA-based space rockers Junius have produced an album of contrasting and contradictory textures for their second full-length. On one hand, Reports from the Threshold of Death is anchored in heaviness. The drumming clashes and clangs, while the bass lines are often as heavy as iron ore. On the other hand, there's a spacey lightness to the vocals. Joseph Martinez's voice is as rich and sumptuous in tone as it is un-tethered in style. The choral vocal elements also have a free-flying quality, adding brightness and a sense of space to Junius's sound. The vocals lift the lid off the album, leaving a big, open sky to wander in. The melodies on Reports from the Threshold of Death are dreamy and complex, and the songs choose to walk into the light, to brighten and sublimate. There isn't a great deal of differentiation between tracks, however; it's often difficult to tell, just by listening, exactly which song track is playing, as they all pulse and twinkle in a similar way, bleeding into each other. This is a very easy album to get lost and drift away in.