A Storm of Light - Forgive Us Our Trespasses 2xLP

Up at one of thé bést labéls évér Neurot Recordings is the new A Storm Of Light 2xLP called "Forgive Us Our Trespasses". Great, but why don't they have that Shrinebuilder vinyl up yet to help me save on shipping!?! Anyway, A Storm Of Light are back with their sophomore effort, and even if I wasn't too impressed by their first album, after seeing them live I'll definitely pay a bit more attention to this one. On paper, this band is perfect though. Featuring current and former members of Blood And Time, Red Sparowes, Battle Of Mice, Asea and guest vocals by Lydia Lunch, Nerissa Campbell and Jarboe , they're bound to attract some hype. But, somehow their debut album didn't hit right the spot for me. Maybe it was the vocals, maybe because it didn't meet up to my expectations even if Josh Graham has surprised me time and time again in being able to deliver some crushing riffs, but no, it didn't feel right.

I'm thinking "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" might just change that. But then again maybe the vocals might... No... You see, A Storm Of Light get obvious comparisons to Neurosis because Josh Graham is their visual director, and the influence is definitely big, but it actually reminds me more of another band that's influenced by Neurosis: present day Isis. And on that note, the riffs, the feel, the doom are stronger than the later works of Isis, when the band is going all out that is. But Graham is no Scott Kelly, nor an Aaron Turner for that matter - but he definitely tries. Though not weak, his vocals just don't stand out enough, and getting backed by some of the most progressive female vocalists around definitely helps, but is more like a patch on a blister. It's not excruciatingly painfull, it just bothers you now and then. Another slight setback are the post-rock almost shoegaze passages like in Red Sparowes, which take away the sheer force and which I'd rather see replaced by some repetitive doom riffing. And oh yeah, synthesizers are just wrong. Wrong I tell ya. Skip track. But then again, all that synth and shoegaze and postrock stuff might just be what they're going for. And for that matter, "Forigve Us Our Trepasses" will definitely get more spins than their debut album over here, even if it's for the sole purpose of me deciding if I put it in my metal or post-rock shelves. If it has to compete with say the new Shrinebuilder or OM records, or with the new Russian Circles...? Hmm, choices.

On to the vinyl news then! Neurot are finally taking orders for the 2xLP of this album, and the outcome looks pretty amazing. There are 2 versions online, a European and a US one, now I'm not sure if us Euros aren't able to order the US version as well, so give that a try for yourself if you prefer the one or the other. The only difference is the marbled or splattered vinyl, but both versions look pretty astounding to me. No pressing information, but Neurot releases usually aren't too limited so for only $20 you might as well get both version from Neurot!

PS: I warned you these things might turn into reviews of some kind. My bad.