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Released on June 22, 2015 via Golden Antenna Records
Listening to a Rosetta album is always a great experience. It’s not straightforward, it’s pretty complex music and there’s a lot to discover throughout several listens.
Quintessential Ephemera is their new album and the first as a five piece band. This change in their line-up has certainly brought some changes to their musical style as well. There are definitely more vocal melodies and guitar harmonies (thanks Eric Jernigan!), which take their songs to a whole new level. If the band was great as a foursome, they are even better with the fifth member.
Firstly we can start by saying that this is a departure from the aggressiveness and anger of The Anaestheste – which is not a bad album by any means and I’ve yet to understand why that record had so much bad criticism. At moments we do feel that some songs wouldn’t have been out of place on either A Determinism of Morality and Wake/Lift.
Positive, uplifting melodies are contrasted with Mike Armine’s energetic and growling vocals. Opener ‘After the Funeral’ is a great example of this. More lush and cinematic tracks such as ‘Untitled I’ are balanced with others like ‘Untitled V’ with its slow build up leading to a monumental emotional discharge.
It is also interesting to point out the inclusion of two instrumental tracks – ‘Untitled IV’ and ‘Nothing in the Guise of Something’ – the second being the perfect way to close the album.
The whole band deserves a word of praise for their performance as musicians. The highlights would be the drum fills courtesy of B.J. McMurtrie, and sublime guitar work from Matt Weed.
The production is also very clean and suits the record perfectly. I would highly recommend a good pair of headphones for this one.
In sum, this is an extension of the work they have done so far. It is cohesive, ambitious and inspired. Isis have broken up, Cult of Luna are on a hiatus, Rosetta are here to take the throne. Please do give them the respect and recognition they surely deserve.
