1. Ayil
2. Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin
3. Blue Day for Croatoa
4. Release
5. Revolve
6. Renew
7. A Determinism of Morality
If you've been keeping up with my blog (that's sarcasm; you haven't), you would see that I have a deep and everlasting adoration for Rosetta's Wake/Lift. At the time I heard it I thought The Galilean Satellites was a tad too harsh and repetetive, and Wake/Lift was proving to be perfection to my ears with its perfect mix of ambiance, post-rock, and down tuned low end doom. To this day Wake/Lift still is that near perfect CD for me, so you could imagine my anticipation when I heard Rosetta was recording an album to be released this year.
The band was quick to answer questions about their new sound on their tumblr. The album will be a lot shorter than the others. The songs will be a lot shorter than previous songs. The tempo is going to be faster, etc etc. Upon hearing these things I was initially bummed. It's a hard thing to write consistently amazing long songs and Rosetta have always been one of the few bands anymore that seem to pull it off with ease. How would a short Rosetta song sound like? On their new album A Determinism of Morality, six of the seven tracks are under the seven minute mark, while the finale just barely falls short of eleven minutes. I can easily assure you, Rosetta could write 3 minute songs and I think they'd still manage to blow us away. Enough babbling...let's get to ADoM.
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The album starts off with a punch in the face with the muscular opener "Ayil" (pats self on back for choice of adjectives here). Immediately you recognize the pace is blatantly quicker than anything on Wake/Lift, and the crystal clear production is also something refreshingly new. Mike Armine's vocals sound angrier than all hell and more passionate than ever. Other things that are immediately noticeable is that the bass sounds much more prominent than previously, BJ's drums are way higher in the mix (a very good thing on this CD), and Matt's wall of noise guitars sound perfectly placed among the rest of the instruments.
The song's massive build up section midway through showcases the first of manytimes you may encounter goosebumps on this record. While BJ goes off on one, you lose count of the amount of guitar tracks that are added even on top of the ambient samples and soundscapes seeping through the bass. After building and building, it finally blasts into an aggressive assault from all 4 members of Rosetta. "RELEASE! REVOLVE! RENEW!" bellows from Armine's throat, even after screaming all three of those words 400 times each on Wake/Lift's closing track, "Monument". Not only is this tying in the concepts of the band, but also foreshadows three tracks coming later in the cd.
After "Ayil" leaves you barely standing after its disturbingly heavy ending, "Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin" begins and may arguably be the best song on the record, and maybe even in the bands career. Words are failing to describe the beauty of this track. An effortlessly flowing build up, a constant crescendo that just doesn't seem to stop getting more and more exciting and gorgeous with each transition. Approaching the end, the song teases, and absolutely delivers. I can't say much else other than this song is perfect. Literally perfect.
If you were wondering if there was any ambiance on A Determinism of Morality, you'll get your fix with "Blue Day for Croatoa". The song sounds like it could be the little brother of the enormous and other-worldly "Temet Nosce" from Wake/Lift. The track is very building but in a trance inducing manner, not getting too loud and saving up any massive exploding endings for remaining numbers to come. The tones continue pushing the bands reputation for being spacey and at times on this song are reminiscent to something Slowdive would do. The band is after all huge fans of The Cure. You'll hear that name drop again later on.
After you're done floating in space for seven minutes, the first of the three Rs begins with "Release". The opening melodies and bass grooves pull you back from space and suck you in to the cohesiveness of the bands song writing. After the first minute or so you'll hear something the Rosetta hasn't done before in their career; clean singing, and it's one of the most airy and beautiful parts on ADoM. Don't get too comfortable though as one of the most crushing things they've ever written lies at the conclusion of the track accompanied by most hair raising vocal performances by Mike Armine. Simply put, prepare to be doomed.
"Revolve" is next and begins with one of the prettiest post-rock-esque parts you could hear in a band like this. It's tough to say how the opening melodies make you feel. At times it seems like the most hopeless and melancholic of notes yet as it builds it seems like the most uplifting and powerful sound you've ever heard. When the melody cuts back in midway through the song, the tone blatantly reminds you of The Cure again, until bursting into the final few minutes of the song. As it flows in and out of triumphant crescendos and hinting at nearly black metal chord progressions, the song finally gives in, barraging you at the end with a bendy, low end assault.
If there was anything that was missing from Rosetta's signature sound, "Renew" is sure to bring everything great about this band into the mix. In fact, "Renew" is the perfect sum up of this bands sound in 6 minutes. From the opening ambiance, to the chill inducing build up, to the layers upon layers of guitars added each measure until finally exploding into what sounds like all the guitars remained in the mix with distortion kicked on, and notched up to 11. Gigantic ending. And speaking of huge endings, this brings us to the title track finale...
Now you may have heard the demo song of "A Determinism of Morality". I was initially bummed after finding out the band showcased a demo of the LAST SONG ON THE CD, but after not listening to it again, the album version was still fresh to me. One thing is for certain, the ending is much, much better than the demo's.
The song begins with lurking atmosphere and a groovy bass line which is soon met up with some oddly timed drums. Matt's guitars build upon the beats and everything starts coming together with effortless flow. Once the melody breaks out, you are floored for the first time in the song, but certainly not the last. The waves of ambiance midway through start one of the best closing build up/climaxes in Rosetta's catalog. Once forgetting where you are, the drums start pummeling there way back into your brainwaves, followed by more layers of guitars. It doesn't take long for the song to kick back in full force, but its only reached about half of its volume as the final two minutes are sure to melt you and crush you somehow simultaneously. Unbelievably POWERFUL ending.
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So if there were any doubts that Rosetta could write another amazing record, those doubts will be shattered upon hearing A Determinism of Morality. Sure, it's a bit shorter, but the final half of the closing song literally leaves you more satisfied that you can imagine. They've proven that they do not need to write 12 minute tracks to express their epic sound. Although I don't think the band could write a better record than Wake/Lift, ADoM is undeniably incredible, and will most definitely be sitting in my top three records of 2010.
