Rolo Tomassi – Where Myth Becomes Memory
Rolo Tomassi – Where Myth Becomes Memory
MNRK HEAVY
Release Date: 05/02/2022
Running Time: 48:00
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
February has already thrown up some seminal releases for 2022 with the likes of Cult of Luna and Zeal and Ardor producing album of the year contenders, at what is traditionally a quieter period for higher profile albums. Due to many records being pushed back over the pandemic, there has been an incredibly congested release schedule where great bands have been at risk of flying under the radar and being drowned out by the sheer volume of music screaming for your attention every Friday. However, there was never any risk of me sleeping on a new Rolo Tomassi album.
2018’S “Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It” was my favourite album of that year; a dark and emotional masterpiece, brimming with anguish and the kind of songwriting finesse that comes with years of hard graft and dedication to your craft. It marked the crystallisation of the band’s shift away from chaotic Math-Metal to a more sprawling Post-Rock direction which was started on the previous album “Grievances”.
“Where Myth Becomes Memory” has been described by the band as the completion of this trilogy, tying together the thematic threads and introspective lyricism of its predecessors, and looking towards the future, after enduring the inevitable obstacles and tragedy that life throws our way. As a result, there is a more upbeat and joyous feel to a lot of the work here, though the menacing darkness of old is still very much present and correct.
Like ‘Aftermath’ from the previous record, proceedings begin with a fabulous Dreampop soundscape and Eva Korman’s gorgeous crystalline singing soaring over the top of ‘Almost Always’, before performing a sonic U-turn on the crushing ‘Cloaked’. It is here that we are reminded of the full breadth of the band’s capability to toy with the listener’s emotions, with Eva transforming into a venom-spitting ball of acerbic rage far removed from her angelic performance merely minutes ago. She is a lead singer of the very highest calibre and every single line delivered on this record displays a mastery of both technique and raw expression.
Eva’s sibling and keyboardist James Spence is also no slouch vocally, known for stepping out from the keys to spit fire with his sister like a corrupted Osmonds family at live performances. On ‘Closer’ though, he demonstrates a butter-smooth melodic croon as he dovetails with Eva to tug at your heartstrings over a lush, delicate backdrop. These kinds of moments make me think of the massive commercial potential Rolo Tomassi would have if they stuck exclusively with this approach, but a band with such a wanderlust for sonic exploration could never be tethered to one musical pathway.
This is none more evident than on the gargantuan metallic slab of riff worship that is ‘Drip’. We all knew that the band was capable of skin peeling heaviness but on here we get something brand new. Instead of the angular Dillinger-worship we’ve grown accustomed to, we get something more akin to the crushing, pick-scape attack of Gojira and a song that makes a mockery of the metal elitists that dismiss Rolo for their image and the fact that NME flirted with them in the early part of their career. This song smacks the shit out of 99% of ‘True Metal’ you’ll hear this year, and hits so much harder when placed in contrast with the previous song. If they wrote nine more of these and nobody knew that they looked like a cool indie band, I guarantee there’d be plenty of former naysayers drooling over their battle vests upon hearing it. But because they’re a wonderful collection of artists with more than one interest (imagine that!), they’re not going to stay in the same lane for the album’s duration.
One large component of Rolo’s current incarnation is the incorporation of Post-Rock over recent releases, and it is still a huge part of “Where Myth..”. There are euphoric crescendos that evoke the most triumphant moments of Explosions in The Sky and fragile, minimalistic passages that nod to the majesty of Sigur Ros. These sections are masterfully knitted together by a phenomenal drum performance from Al Pot, who exercises commendable discipline in the build ups before letting loose and becoming a blur of limbs and rhythmic catharsis as each song erupts to its cinematic finale. While his drumming prowess is more technically obvious in the more metallic moments, it is the tasteful approach in the album’s more introspective moments that truly shows his calibre.
Closing cut, ‘The End of Eternity’ perhaps offers the best representation of the album, with its sublime ethereal opening, savage mid-section, and celestial outro that caps off a perfectly sequenced body of work. Calling an album a ‘journey’ makes me want to throw up in my mouth whenever I see a writer use it, but if this arse-twitch-inducing cliché was going to be broken out, this would be the time to do it. Let’s just call it an adventure instead. Still cringe but it’s a fitting description so give me a break.
If I was being super critical, and I guess that’s my job here; I will say this very much feels like a continuation of the previous record and although there are plenty of new ideas explored, the core template remains intact. What we have here is a slightly happier version of its predecessor that doesn’t carry the same level of pain and darkness while remaining in that sonic realm. Whether that makes it superior or not is entirely subjective, I certainly find this one an easier listening experience, but there are inevitably less surprises on display after the dramatic shifts of the previous two efforts. This album is more geared towards refining and building on what has been established than ripping up the blueprint all over again.
There are still many moments where it is clear the band is not happy to sit still, such as the eerie piano passages on ‘Stumbling’ and the ominous one-note keyboard drone that accompanies the unsettling tension of ‘Mutual Ruin’, so this is in no way a simple retreat of a winning formula. In fact, these embellishments, when added to their signature sound, probably make this their most cohesive record to date.
“Where Myth Becomes Memory” is an astonishing achievement that, if there’s any justice, will see this criminally underrated band soar to new heights of success. Please don’t sleep on this one. We’re lucky to have artists of this quality in our scene, and I genuinely can’t wait to see where their creativity takes them now that they’ve closed out this stage of their evolution in such magnificent fashion.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Almost Always
02. Cloaked
03. Mutual Ruin
04. Labyrinthine
05. Closer
06. Drip
07. Prescience
08. Stumbling
09. To Resist Forgetting
10. The End Of Eternity
LINE-UP:
Eva Korman- Vocals/Guitar
James Spence- backing and lead vocals, keyboards, pianos, synthesizers
Chris Crayford- Guitar
Nathan Fairweather- Bass Guitar
Al Pott- Drums
LINKS:
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