Night Verses exist somewhere between the soul stealing mainstream and outer space. They are a band of actual musicians who could easily make Nickelback become the house band for a 1980’s TV talk show about broken teenage relationships and missing cats.
…But, Night Verses seem to drift in the spaces between all of that, staying true to the DIY mentality, and creating whatever they want; because after all, that is what is best!
If you think you are one of those snobs who plays by an unwritten rule that the more obscure the band or the music, the better it is, and only that is what should fill your musical library; and as soon as those bands/artists get a 15 second clip aired on any media outlet you immediately dump them …… well, it would be hard to say if you should really give up on Night Verses.
A quote directly from their Wikipedia page may explain why: “Night Verses have been noted for their vast use of guitar effects, intricate rhythm section, and introspective/emotive vocals. Their consistent layering of effected textures and diverse rhythmic choices lean them more towards the genres like Space rock, Art rock and even some Shoegaze. However, their more aggressive passages and emotionally driven vocals often create similar moments to those found within the Alternative metal, Post-hardcore and Metalcore genres.”
Night Verses are so good that they deserve arena rock status, and yet they remain somewhat ambiguous because why not?!
They have about 18,000 Facebook likes. Why does that matter? Do they care? I don’t think so, so let’s get to what Night Verses really solely cares about: the music.
Their first record Lift Your Existence was a stellar debut, full of soaring vocals, heavy riffs, and ambient guitars that squealed and begged their way into our hearts and minds. Mathy riffs to articulate drumming and blended bass with emotive vocal and lyrics was more than enough to make new fans lose the skepticism that this was just another Thursday wanna-be band.
Read Isaac’s interview with Night Verses’ guitarist Nic DePirro about the creation of Lift Your Existence.
Even with the song “Celestial Fires” we can hear that this band pushes to not be pegged into just one genre or style, as it has touches of many styles cohesively being performed in tandem.
Night Verses’ new record Into The Vanishing Light is both a continuation and a departure from Lift Your Existence. The parallels and the dichotomies are present in the songwriting and the bold experimentation. Night Verses has a way of texturing their guitars and rhythm so symbiotically and smoothly that you have no idea what is going on, other than you are hearing what your senses push away, but your heart wants to love.
Into The Vanishing Light‘s opener is entitled “The Future As History: I Love You.” It is absolutely an epic on all scales. It is a metalcore song at it’s roots, but is driven by an emotive vocal that is screamed and sung by the truly talented Douglas Robinson. It is hard to pin down exactly what is going on in this creative heap of a song, but it will blast you and take you on a whirlwind! Just play it loud.
“Connecting Hexes” is scary and dark, and your mind envisions a graveyard in the night as it expands. The lyrics are yelled more than sang. It jumps in time signatures, and pace and although it is hard to follow along with, one can appreciate the technicality of the music.
It is obvious that Night Verses is a band with a much deeper vision than merely to create music that gains them success. They may have a completely different goal altogether.
I am not going to guess at what that is exactly, but on track three “Drift,” we can maybe begin to understand that this may be what it takes to be somewhat original in this time period.
Yes, you could say that you have heard bands that sound like or have already done what Night Verses are doing… but they imagine and create from a newer and fresher wave of musical thought than many of their peers. This may lead them down a road in which listeners take a while to really get into them, but Radiohead didn’t get their (obsessive) cult following overnight.
“Dialogue In Cataplexy” has a bit more melody in there and also still gets it’s structure from frenetic guitars and heavy perfect drumming. It has a watery effect bridge, and comes back to the surface with a dirty guitar solo. I am not going to say that this band sounds like Nine Inch Nails had a sushi and wine date with (Sing The Sorrow era) AFI, but that very well could be a fairly accurate guess.
If you are dreaming about rather odd and dark things, “Vantablack” is your perfect soundtrack. It has a slower pace and even more beautiful ambiguity. Art rock in a fine tuned atmospheric acid trip from the dirty streets of 1970’s New York City meets the desperate cries of the lost and poor.
“Faceless Youth” has a straightforward, even punk rock approach, but it definitely stays tightly knit within this band’s strength of backwards riffs and notes that seem to end too soon. It has a nice distortion to it that gives it an old school sound quality, but is also sonically cool. “WE ARE THE INFINITE AND TRUE / WE ARE THE DAWN OF FACELESS YOUTH!”
“Panic and Pull Your Heart” is a beast of underbelly song structure with a haunting riff that screeches into your eardrum. The vocals echo in your brain, indecipherable but memorable. The shouted melody will get your attention, and the Tool-like build going on in between is so rad!
“Growing Out Of Orbit” creeps in with the use of what sounds like wooden spoons on empty jars (?) and the reverb riff is complacently awesome. It is slow and heady, but croons with a purpose. A great vocal performance on this one as well, as Robinson shows some low end range.
At this point on Into The Vanishing Light you may begin to wonder if Night Verses has ever wanted to just be a “normal rock band with some catchy hits.”
They easily could if so desired, but when you begin to understand the intent behind the music you begin to see that they could not be just another normal rock band…
…and that is what this scene needs more of. You may never get it, per say, but you should let it be in appreciation and gratitude.
The opening bombastically dirty and crunchy riffs that begin “Blue Shades of the Sun” set a mood that will pump your blood and also chill you out. It resounds with a weak yet strong musical presence that teases, much like the other tracks, and it pulls you in and forces you to wonder what is next(?).
“Strange Graves” and “Phoenix III – Into the Vanishing Light” are the last two tracks. The former precedes that latter quite intensely, and the last song is fast and an almost perfect example of ambient space age punk rock. It breaks into heavy screamed metalcore, which satisfies even more.
Again I am reminded of Aaron Weiss from Mewithoutyou as Douglas speaks or talks the lyrics. A skill only few can do well, and he does! The vocals on this album alone are reason enough to check it out.
Into The Vanishing Light comes to a long fast and heavy end as the last song spreads out to 10m 40sec. I will let the listener determine what the lyrics are about for each song, as they can be interpreted in many different ways. Musically you will be taken on many different short journeys, hear many different influences (Tool, AFI, NIN, Norma Jean, Smashing Pumpkins, industrial techno, fast punk rock, metal, etc.).
All in all you can conclude that Night Verses are definitely their very own, and are doing an awesome job at creating something that is original on Into the Vanishing Light.
Music critics are always on the look out for originality and music that is not just another recreation or reboot of what so many others have already rebooted. With endless albums in that nature coming out on a daily basis, it is on point and healthy to pay attention to what Night Verses is creating. Yes, we can always tag on influencers, but at the end of the day there is no denying this band has put in the work to make something that stands out. And if that means that it is not easily digestible or accessible on the first listen, then maybe we as binge consumers need to take a step back, and learn to actually listen again. To take some time and sit in a dark room with a cup of coffee and play the entirety of Into The Vanishing Light on our headphones or turntable… and just simply listen and enjoy it for what it is.
Night Verses, thank you for challenging us to just listen. I hope more of us do.
Rating: 4/5
Note: The reason that I am rating Into The Vanishing Light 4 out of 5 is simply because it is an amazing album, but is probably something that will not be on heavy rotation in my daily listening; this is mainly because I am a hypocrite and don’t always take the time to fully listen to what is going on in an album they way that Into The Vanishing Light deserves to be listened to.