Everybody is touched by death at some point. It’s a simple fact of life, and no matter how much family and friends, or how lonely you may be, you will still feel the loss of someone. Perhaps more so when lonely. When younger a kind of bravado overcomes you but as you get older, and more accepting of your own limitations, death becomes ever so much closer. It becomes a melancholic feeling that makes you question not so much why it is happening, but the dignity in which it happens.
Marianas Rest explore the meaning of death on new album The Bereaved, and before we go any further be warned, this is no easy listening album. Thematically, and in circumstances such as being touched by death, it has the ability to make you feel like the song is crying out from your body. It’s powerful music, but it’s testament to the band that they don’t become too overbearing.
Whilst the melancholic aspect drives the themes and lyrics, musically this album simply soars. At times it makes you feel like you are soaring into heaven. Shades of early Anathema, mixed with late period Marillion provide the emotional response, whilst the slow burn of the music allows for contemplation. It’s not all ambient however, and when this album hits heavy, it really is heavy. Guitars rage, keyboards howl, and a rhythm section which feels like your heartbeat envelop your body.
It’s an album to listen to loud, and preferably on headphones so you can hear the little nuances. Take in as whole on first listen to really feel the album. Once done, you can start to unpick each track. There is so much to decipher within the lyrics, which gets swept aside by the majestic music at first. Like a novel, unfurling its emotional secrets over time, it’s an album which begs for repeated listens. Just take a deep breath each time to prepare for the cathartic melancholy. There are no answers, death is ultimate, and how we deal with it is personal. The music here will form a soundtrack to that grief. The first essential listen of 2026 and highly recommended.
