In January, The Sponge practically broke this goddamn web site together with his evaluation of Spider God’s album-of-covers, Black Renditions. Now that the mud has settled, two truths have emerged: First, Ken was fully honest in his love for that album, and his nice evaluation completely mirrored these emotions. And second, I fully disagree with him. Don’t get me fallacious: I don’t hate Black Renditions. I simply thought (and nonetheless suppose) that an album of different individuals’s materials ought to by no means rating that extremely. Extra importantly although, I assumed the covers had been uninspired. There was no nice reimagining of traditional pop tunes; no intelligent sonic sanding to vary the contours and complexion of gems worn clean from repeat performs. Moderately, they had been merely sped up and filtered by means of a black steel sieve, replete with monotonous vocals. Like gum, it was gratifying, however I felt no must rechew it. Now Spider God is again with their debut assortment of totally unique materials within the type of Fly within the Lure. Is the location about to be damaged once more?
Fly within the Lure is an idea album specializing in the mysterious dying of Elisa Lam, a younger girl whose physique was discovered submerged in a rooftop tank of her LA resort in 2013. The circumstances round her dying are unclear to at the present time, however it’s a suitably macabre and mysterious subject for a black steel album. Every monitor gives a special perspective on the occasion, mixing truth and fiction. Black Renditions confirmed the band’s affinity for late twentieth century pop as considered by means of a black steel lens, and an analogous type is maintained right here. The melodies are the driving drive, and in an alternate universe, this might simply have been an indie pop staple of the kind that cluttered up Pitchfork’s web site for therefore lengthy. So: tragedy, black steel, hyper-melodic pop steel: these are tough components to carry collectively, even for skilled bands. Spider God give it an excellent go…
… However honestly, they solely partially succeed. There’s a huge disconnect between the subject material and the music, which is perplexing. Fly within the Lure’s melodies and chords are usually upbeat and within the main key, which was nice for syrupy boy band covers about wanting issues that means, however is way much less efficient in conveying thriller and tragedy. Tracks like “The Hermit” and “Labyrinth of Hallways” are jarring in how comparable they’re structurally to the pop hits of outdated. I initially thought this distinction between type and subject material was intentional: a means of highlighting one another due to the disconnect. However the band sells neither the parodic parts, nor the overt seriousness, practically sufficient to persuade me both means. Which finally ends up pulling me out of the thriller, moderately than drawing me in.
The songs themselves vary from ethereal and enjoyable to barely monotonous. Spider God’s nice expertise is taking mild and ethereal melodies and riffs and metamorphosing them into convincing black steel. It shouldn’t be underestimated how tough it’s to do that skillfully, and fairly often, Fly within the Lure will get it spot on. When it really works, you may have absolute dynamite. “Flies within the Lure” is among the finest tracks of the yr as a result of the road between black steel and melody is traversed expertly. The draw back is that some tracks fall flat, the sunshine jauntiness unable to shoulder the heft the band is aiming for. That is additional compounded by a one-dimensional vocal efficiency that hardly fluctuates over Fly within the Lure. The excellent news is that, just like the album itself, the singer will get higher because the album progresses, leading to a second half of the gathering is notably higher than the primary.
Your enjoyment of Fly within the Lure will rely, to a big extent, on how persuaded you might be by Spider God’s sound. Should you beloved Black Renditions, I think you’ll take pleasure in this, too. It’s fleet and enjoyable and melody-driven. If, nevertheless, you discovered Renditions considerably cloy and superficial, Fly within the Lure will do nothing to vary your thoughts. A novel and enjoyable sound, which labored properly for breezy covers, stumbles within the face of extra severe and difficult themes and concepts. If Black Renditions was a enjoyable celebration, Fly within the Lure is the marginally disappointing come-down the subsequent day.
Score: 2.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Repose Information
Web site: spider-god.bandcamp.com | fb.com/spidergodband
Launched Worldwide: November eleventh, 2022
