Esben And The Witch - Older Terrors (Season Of Mist) 2016
8
A voice rises wraithlike from squalls of white noise and an avalanche of percussion; searing blasts of distortion subside into a hushed, eerie calm before redoubling in intensity; emotions are yanked from despair to rage to grudging acceptance – these tumultuous progressions may be nothing new for followers of EatW yet it’s a formula they are steadily tweaking to progression.
They’re a trio who know that power and intensity don’t necessarily equal volume, and in many ways it’s Older Terrors’ stillest moments that are the most suffocating, where Rachel Davies stands alone and sounds more like an angel of retribution than anything earthbound. These sections snake around the bursts of fury and sound with unsettling ease and the combination is enough to leave the unwary breathless, using repetition and contrast to deliver an emotional carpet-bombing. Even if followers think they have a handle on Esben… this might still hit hard.