Marching Church, the brainchild of Iceage vocalist Elias Bender Rønnenfelt turned full band, have followed up their debut album This World Is Not Enough with Coming Down: Sessions in April, an EP of more loosely structured fare.
The first track of two is shorter and moves sluggishly, with the only distinct sound being the funereal thudding of a drum. Rønnenfelt's voice slowly makes its way into the mix, and he gives a dirge-like performance; when he groans, "l feel I'm coming down," he sounds determined to drag us all down with him.
The better of the two tracks is the 21-minute "Coming Down, Part 2," something of a post-rock mini-epic that features no vocals at all. Here, a multitude of instruments play repeated passages that are interwoven and laid out in a series of progressions. It starts out with a slinky sense of mystery, but this eventually gives way to more mournful overtones. Cello plays a dominant role, but is joined throughout by jazz-tinged piano, distorted guitar and a percussive beat that ebbs and flows.
Overall, Coming Down: Sessions in April is a journey that takes us nowhere. The musical arrangement is impressive on a cerebral level, but if the listener is supposed to feel anything other than an pervasive, almost stultifying sense of gloom, then that message is lost in the morose sludge.
(Sacred Bones)The first track of two is shorter and moves sluggishly, with the only distinct sound being the funereal thudding of a drum. Rønnenfelt's voice slowly makes its way into the mix, and he gives a dirge-like performance; when he groans, "l feel I'm coming down," he sounds determined to drag us all down with him.
The better of the two tracks is the 21-minute "Coming Down, Part 2," something of a post-rock mini-epic that features no vocals at all. Here, a multitude of instruments play repeated passages that are interwoven and laid out in a series of progressions. It starts out with a slinky sense of mystery, but this eventually gives way to more mournful overtones. Cello plays a dominant role, but is joined throughout by jazz-tinged piano, distorted guitar and a percussive beat that ebbs and flows.
Overall, Coming Down: Sessions in April is a journey that takes us nowhere. The musical arrangement is impressive on a cerebral level, but if the listener is supposed to feel anything other than an pervasive, almost stultifying sense of gloom, then that message is lost in the morose sludge.