ninehertz

I can’t stop staring at the artwork adorning the new The Dead at Sea record, finding shapes within it or interpreting them differently each time I look, aided by its soundtrack (and distracting me from reviewing).

I manage to peel myself away eventually. III heralds the third chapter of The Dead at Sea, the instrumentalists from Birmingham, a return most welcome. There were eight years between their first and second, but now only two to their third, a happy increasing turn of the cogs of production.

What I really like about The Dead at Sea is their subtle divergence from where your first impressions place them. Post-rock would be the closest approximation of their general offering, but it’s not pure, distorted by elements of psychedelia and scarred by noises that provide rough surfaces to grab hold of.

There is a gentle easing in through Dawn, which could be a snippet from a Smote record, before the fidgety post-rock of Ninevah sets off on a voyage of discovery, restless but open, free and unencumbered by expected genre standards as a result. It could be practically cosmic were it not for the steely determination and heavier edges that encroach upon doom, grounding the song.

This encapsulates the identity of the record, seen through the almost meditative calmness closing passages on The Bay of Bengal which follow on from static bristling rawness of its early stages, or the guitars of TMG which morph from snarling to psych soloing. And this identity is key, The Dead at Sea manoeuvring their sound into clear waters, to stand out and to create this consistently enjoyable record.