Album Review // 2022-04-15

Rolo Tomassi

Where Myth Becomes Memory

Released: 2022-02-04

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It never ceases to amaze me when I hear of talented vocalist who just took the spot because a vocalist was needed. Apparently, this is the case with Eva, who started on keyboard only. I also love to hear when siblings find musical talent and grow up together pursuing it. This band also has that story line.

I was really emotional the first few times I listened to this album. I was feeling nostalgic, sitting on the couch at my mother's house. I stayed up much later than her. Her house is so much quieter than mine. If this music wasn't on, you could hear a pin drop. I hadn't fully decided if I wanted to review this album. I had started it weeks ago, and in this moment was drawn back. For some reason, the words were flowing, so it was meant to be.

From the moment I heard this band's name, it sounded very different. It seems it may have been based off of L.A. Confidential, which I haven't watched myself.

The title of this album - Where Myth Becomes Memory - makes me think of getting through something you thought was impossible, and then looking back and being amazed that you did.

Album Art

I like the artwork here. I like how there is only a bit of colour. It makes me ask, what is rising up here and out of what? There is a lot more detail here than what it first seems. I think the artist probably was able to relax into this, creating those little details. I don't find I connect it much with the content of this album, though.

Mood

The mood here brings to mind a different land. I can't stop envisioning Alice making her way through Wonderland. It is strange and capricious. It is moody in itself. Overall, through the different emotions in this, I always end up back to sadness. It is the recurring theme thread throughout.

My favourite video game of all time is Alice - Madness Returns. It just feels like a visualization of my nightmares. It is unpredictable and odd. So, to feel that unusual sense you get from Wonderland in this music is a good thing, but I am also not the type of person that listens to movie scores or game music on it's own...

Vocals

Eva's voice sounds very natural and authentic. There is a lot of singing on this album. Although it was a screaming song that I first heard by them, this somehow makes sense for the authenticity of what they are presenting here. I don't enjoy listening to her higher singing voice, but this isn't a surprise as I don't enjoy other bands, such as Birthday Massacre, with a similar style of high sweet voice. Maybe it is just too much of it on this album. I don't like the back up vocals, they do nothing for me (are you surprised? lol). I like Eva's scream, though at times I couldn't figure out how they decided to use it at the exact moments they did.

Music

The music has lots of parts to it. It feels pretty full, and then it feels really sparse. Sometimes these changes set the atmosphere, such as around 3 minutes into Mutual Ruin. I like the riffy loops that are found in some of the songs - especially the ones with a more aggressive tone. The keyboard really adds a layer that wouldn't be the same without it. Each instrument has its moment to shine, which is nice to see.

Almost Always

This makes me think of the phrase "Follow your heart". Some people more naturally think with their heart, and some with their brain. I tend to think with my heart, but I feel it leads me astray sometimes...

Are you listening to your heart?
What happens when it stops?
Are you waiting for a sign?
A goodbye?
Goodbye
What do you do when you're lost?

Cloaked

This song makes me think of being pushed to your limits, but knowing there is more to come.

Is it too much to live with this?
The worst of it still growing
What lies beyond the end of this? Wait for it
Wait for it

Screaming on the outside looking in
Longing for the simplicity of nothing
To bend without breaking when chances are slim
Locked in this rhythm, locked in this ruling

Mutual Ruin

I think this is being stuck between a rock and hard place, or in other words, being in a tough situation. Maybe being indecisive and realizing the impact either way could be big.

Fateful as a near miss
Fatal as the next chapter
The future and the past
Between guilt and innocence
What if it changes too much?
Causing a shift in my existence
The line of least resistance

A deepened commitment
To faith in our essence
The future and the past
The lightness and the dark

Labarinthine

This gives me a visual of Alice falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, getting deeper and deeper into a journey she doesn't even know if she wants to be on.

Following the arrow of time
How easy it would be
Moving infinitely
Tied to the burden of legacy
So is the key to stop resisting?
How easy it would be

Closer

Seems to be focused on someone specific. It's clear there's a goal that seems closer to obtaining, but still some uncertainty.

Where to begin?
How to fathom this?
An endless beautiful symmetry
Designed to fail, sweet catastrophe
Once lost in the glow
Now I’m the devil you don’t know

What’s left to lose?
All I want is you
Your patience removed
But all I want is you
Naive to assume
Yet all I want is you
As language concludes
The only way out is through

Drip

I think something is weighing on someone like a drip that you can't quite get to shut right off. Try shutting off your mind, your thoughts.

What it means to be
In the aftermath of tragedy
What it means to be
Finally uncaged and I lost my way

Understanding the relevance of the eclipse
When I can’t forgive
Nothing is ever enough
When I can’t forgive
Nothing is ever enough
I can’t forgive

Prescience

Is the title maybe indicating that this was a pattern of thinking before you had knowledge? Maybe you can make better choices now.

Not one to refuse and so far misused
Patterned abuse
Immerse yourself, prepare for the fight
And that's what keeps me up at night

For those of us leaning into harm's way
When nothing came easy
Was this the grand performance
To make a spectacle of me?

Stumbling

Fear is a part of life, but do we sometimes repeat negative sequences because we are scared of something different?

Patterns repeat
Is it because I'm afraid?
Stumbling blindly
Afraid, stumbling blindly

To Resist Forgetting

I think this is an effort to learn from mistakes. Don't keep making them.

The birthplace of creation
To walk and not run through
To remind myself I have failed
So many times
Tried my hand at redemption
Just another symptom
I have failed so many times
But I'll come out from underneath to understand

How important to identify
A gentle lullaby
For better or for worse
To remind
I have failed so many times

The End of Eternity

This closing song doesn't end on a confident note, but maybe one that is okay with uncertainty.

Moments seem eternal
Full of mistakes, words can't convey
If I can't get what I want
What if what's left is not enough?

Reaching out for infinite brightness
We'll find this

Playlist Picks

Anything that can make me feel this much emotion is doing something right, but this is also not completely my thing. 

Mutual Ruin will make it to my playlist because I like emotive nature of it and the changes in it.

Prescience makes it because I like how it is set in a straight-forward motion.