A dramatic piano piece accompanied with some moody operatic vocals opens up Everson Poe’s ‘Enough is a Myth’ and suffice to say it immediately sets the tone for the rest of the album. TLDR? It’s Gothic-tinged Doom metal. If this made you go ‘ooohhhh’, get on it right now you won’t regret it.
And for our more attention-span possessing friends ‘Enough is a Myth’ is an expansively huge sounding exploration of Doom and Post Metal that favours cinematic Ambient soundscapes as much as it does pummeling yet atmospheric Metal. Interesting use of subtle electronic elements help to add further texture to the whole which together with the open and expansive sound create a haunting and captivating sound that maintains your attention throughout. Together with the Gothic atmosphere it gives the album a grand theatrical feel without ever feeling corny or overdone.
That’s the sound in a bit more than a nutshell but most important of all is how all these ingredients result in this heartbreakingly beautiful album. An album that weaves between the aforementioned halves of Ambient atmosphere on the one hand and Metal on the other with skillful ease but also? Seemingly disregarding it? It feels like an album more concerned about atmosphere and the tale it’s telling rather than sticking to the trappings of one specific genre. And it’s this exact disregard for “sound” or a sonic aesthetic that, funnily enough, makes it sound more authentically Gothic in vibe than most bands that actively chase that sound.
The Gothic overtones actually feel like the sound of sorrow and pain rather than just wearing a shallow Evanescence/Nightwish skin. It’s being employed here as a theme rather than as a mere aesthetic which to me makes this immensely more interesting than the glut of cookie-cutter Gothic Metal stuff that’s out there.
It’s an album that genuinely moved me, something of which the Metal aspect adds some extra sauce to proceedings but is so well-written and beautiful I feel it would still stand strong as a broodingly beautiful exercise in captivating atmosphere if it decided to drop the Metal altogether. It’s just that great…
Especially in an era where every other artist dabbles with “black metal” and while it’s cool that people are leaning into the darker side of music. It’s rare that a project, makes me feel anything. And Everson Poe’s “enough is a myth” made every synapse in my brain light up like a Sybian set to “kill”
From the contemplative opener, you feel the heaviness of the key strokes, as the creaks of the plastic sound like a smothering dread. That playing these notes will lead to terrible things happening. This foreboding is amplified by the haunting vocals by Thia Mathes, who sounds like she’s chanting forbidden incantations.
As this track swirls in my head, my imagination takes me to a beach, with our duo singing this stinging siren’s call. With the ungodly wails and shrieks in the latter part, sounding like something horrific is making its way to the shore.
The following track groans into existence; the serrated synths and guitars welcome a huge being of unspeakable horror, like a terrifying wrestler charging out of the curtain and towards the ring. Sadly for us, this war cry won’t end with bodyslams, as this being is here to sweep humanity away in a serene tidal wave of distortion. While you stand there at the shoreline stricken with fear, a moment of contemplation slaps you across the face like a 10lb salmon, that perhaps this was a bad idea. While Thia taunts you with repeated refrains of regret and rejection.
But it’s not all Doom, gloom, heartache and Cthulhu. As we hit the middle of the album, that pulls up on the freefall of melancholy, to release a sonic parachute of sumptuousness, which sounds like what I can only describe as “what if Skinny Puppy made a drive-time ballad?”
Well, if it sounds like this, then I would listen to the radio every damn day! As this goth opera really starts to stretch its wings and is a pacing masterstroke.
Granted, if you drill down on the lyrics, this moment of stillness before our lovely planet filled with hope, love and Nintendo Wii’s, almost sounds soothing. A lovely moment between us and our new “masters”, but that looming radiation of dread never fades away.
Track 4 lulls us into a lovely lullaby as we float through space and time, wondering that actually, now that we’re “one” with our eldritch neighbours, maybe… just maybe, this might be the best thing for us.
Then a single delayed stroke of a guitar plays, and a jolt of terror shoots through your spine like a gunshot. This tension builds with each pluck, reverb filling this cavern of non-existence. And then you realise that the “fun” is yet to begin..
“I repent, I lived a life of regret, I repent for my sins!”, you shout into the nothingness, in hope that whatever entity is holding you here will release you from its vice grip..
Track five starts, and you are pulled towards the being, its uncountable amount of eyes staring at you, inquisitive, like your twiglet-like frame is an insect of dubious importance.
But instead of snuffing you out with a minuscule squeeze. It turns you towards the portal; and you see your hometown being destroyed by his colossal mates, wondering if a pale man will slide into the frame and say “Hi, my name is Clive Barker… Welcome to Jackass!” You stare back at this being, who is gleefully showing you this destruction, as the final track reveals in its doomy splendour.
And in this almost fifteen-minute closer, the chugging end credits roll over you and everything you hold dear, like a horrific lawn-grooming instrument.
It’s passages and post-punky solo tangents, wiping the last remaining hints of life. With a break in the middle as a pastor lambasts us with a construct so archaic, it makes these cosmic monsters burrowing their limbs into our rotting flesh look like popsicle sticks.
And as this wonderful dirge comes to its climax, my irreverent head-canon gets pushed aside, and tears start to stream down my face at this piece of fucking art that barely has 500 plays on YouTube Music while i sit here.. spent, wondering how something of this creativity is being looked over? Well, I hope my words may change that opinion, because if you are reading this shite, you could have been checking this gothic nugget out that is equally as soul-rendering as its affirming.
Sadly for me, you are reading this journal aeons post this incident, and I’ve been tasked in this endless slumber to make signs for any cosmic horrors that may visit our hollowed-out planet which read “Now Twinned with Great Yarmouth”
The production is beautiful: clear, clean and dynamic. This is a definitely an album for good headphones if you have them. My favorite track, “iv. liminal,” begins almost imperceptibly and then slowly takes shape and builds into a multifaceted crescendo of sound.
Even when the album gets loud, it’s never messy. Each note, cymbal crash, and vocal feels carefully and purposefully arranged. Each track is deployed to strike just the right tone: opera accented with guttural growls and backed by epic orchestration. The total effect is powerful.
Metal is a genre I don’t always connect with, but this album falls into a different category for me. It bewitched me, and I’m glad for it.
Mae Shults’ album utilizes, and interweaves, several vastly different styles of music. There is Neo-classical, cinematic Ambient, Doom Metal, Darkwave and probably a handful more. The common thread of all of them, is that there is a moodiness and a darkness inherent to all of them; a feeling of sorrow as if the performers carry the weight and pain of the whole world on their shoulders. Yet instead of being weighed down by the emotion, the arrangement instead highlights the beauty in the composition. There are moments of crunchy heaviness, sure. But they are used deliberately as contrast, in order to make the beauty shine even brighter.The lyrics reflect this as well; as dark and somber as they are, there is a flow and poetry to them that is simply incredibly beautiful in its expressiveness. And the stellar performance of vocalist Thia Mathes is the perfect vehicle for these lyrics. From almost operatic high notes, to a pleasant and soothing tone, Thia breathes life into the words and makes them feel haunting and relatable. And the sparing use of harsh vocals gives the songs these moments of intensity that keep them from feeling too comfortable.
Overall, this is an album that can pull the listener into its darkness and leave them feeling mesmerized. The tone will not be for everyone, but it has incredibly much to offer for anyone willing to give it their attention. It was one of the most memorable albums I’ve heard last year and I wholeheartedly can recommend it.
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