Elizabeth Colour Wheel
Nocebo


4.5
superb

Review

by Dewinged STAFF
March 19th, 2019 | 113 replies


Release Date: 2019 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Truth bleeds.

When Lane Shi collapses on stage, she takes the whole audience with her. The emotional load that the voice of Elizabeth Colour Wheel burdens night after night is not meant for the occasional customer. It is a taxing experience for everyone involved, mostly for their souls. But the truth is that, once you have come through their explosive set, once you have been exposed to the uncalled bursts of fury and the droning dementia, you realize the precious gift you have been given: a gift of honesty. A currency that nowadays is as frequent as a herd of unicorns galloping a rainbow.

ECW is a band that can go from Bent Knee to Oathbreaker in a matter of ten seconds, exhausting their fire to the point of becoming a deranged mirror of Slint's Spiderland at will. It's just one of the many deceiving tricks used to build momentum before the next charge against your emotional barrier. Shi's voice is the agonizing rambling of a hypothetical retired cabaret singer having a nostalgic meltdown in the darkest corner of a jazz club. Just when you think alcohol has drained her last drop of willpower, she will crush her glass with her fingers pointing at you with a bleeding hand while she becomes a vengeful banshee. The band scores her mood swings with telepathic accuracy, emphasizing the drone and the doom in pieces like the final minutes of opener "Pink Palm".

For Nocebo, ECW have cut a slice or two of the unforgiving noise that reigned on their previous EP, Queen Tired, a collection of four tracks that lured San Francisco's dark music curators The Flenser (Have a Nice Life, Street Sects), and convinced them to sign them up for a full-length release. Seth Manchester, who had previously worked with The Body to conceive the magnificent I tried to fight it but I can't any longer last year, has done an excellent job in capturing the band's incendiary performance. The production is devoid of anything that doesn't happen on stage, which results in a final product hardly contained in its vessel, due to as much rage as fidelity to what the band is about.

Elizabeth Colour Wheel is a project difficult to categorize. They are certainly comfortable with noise and distortion filling the room and bringing everyone to the brink of madness, but they also delight themselves in long unwinding passages of clean guitars and encumbered drumming ala Neurosis. Songs like "Hide Behind (Emmett's Song)" speak in shoegaze tongues and punk rock beats, while grunge homages like "23" explode in post rock ecstasies mid-track. "Life of a Flower" is some sort of doom meets punk (or vice versa) and "34" erupts a blast beat from the get go that makes Shi go fully mental, ending the track with unforeseen violence. Two interludes, "Somnambulist" and "Bedrest" serve as seldom breathers, the first one sounds as if Grouper was trying to communicate through the static like a poltergeist, and the latter is a healing lullaby of broken amp tubes looping an alluring guitar melody.

Nocebo is like a haunted house, where every room tells a different story but none of them meets a predictable ending. On the contrary, it's an extremely volatile album that demands focus and sharp senses to be traversed. It's also a thrilling experience that feeds on the impromptu temperament of ECW's music, a display of human sensibilities that don't need theatrics to convey its message. Their energy as a band already bleeds through the speakers with unruly intensity and, sometimes, this is more than enough to leave a mark on those willing to listen.



Recent reviews by this author
Suldusk AnthesisChapel of Disease Echoes of Light
Chelsea Wolfe She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to SheRhun (USA-ME) Conveyance In Death
Lucifer (DE) Lucifer VSlift Ilion
user ratings (78)
3.6
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
March 19th 2019


32179 Comments


This thing here goes straight into my top 5 of the year so far.

Jam: https://elizabethcolourwheel.bandcamp.com/


Edit: And also 50th review, yay!


Digging: Kelly Lee Owens - Dreamstate

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
March 19th 2019


32179 Comments


Always thankful for your valuable insight and unflinching support sach.

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
March 19th 2019


32179 Comments


It's a lotta mumbo jumbo so no worries, I wouldn't read it either.

Thanks for the mind pos!

MarsKid
Emeritus
March 19th 2019


21035 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Well this was indeed quite written, I love the various descriptors you employ throughout this. I'm really interested to hear how exactly this plays out, but yeah, nice writing as per the norm from you

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
March 19th 2019


32179 Comments


Thanks a bunch Marsbro. I don't think these guys will get much action here but hopefully this gives them a small push.

Slex
March 19th 2019


17255 Comments


Damn this sounds awesome

Digging: Tyler, the Creator - Chromakopia

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
March 19th 2019


32179 Comments


It is quite the ride Fred, give it a shot

Divaman
March 19th 2019


16120 Comments


Might give it a shot. Good review, my friend.

RunOfTheMill
March 19th 2019


4591 Comments


Always a great read from you Dewi. I'm not a big fan of a lot of noise music, would I enjoy this if I sat down to listen to it ya think?

Lord(e)Po)))ts
March 19th 2019


70256 Comments


Intrigued

sixdegrees
March 19th 2019


13127 Comments


for a band named after a lilys song I thought i'd like these guys more

Custy666
March 19th 2019


1 Comments


Keen to check this out! Excellent Review

Keyblade
March 19th 2019


30678 Comments


a band named after a Lilys song, sweet

Slex
March 19th 2019


17255 Comments


Seemed all sound and fury signifying nothing on my first listen but I'm definitely gonna give it more listens, very busy album

teamster
March 19th 2019


6292 Comments


Oh shit. Will check. Excellent review and thanks.

Digging: Sinistro - Vertice

MarsKid
Emeritus
March 20th 2019


21035 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Vocals didn't help this out too much in all honesty, and this drug on at times. Definitely a fair amount of good stuff but not enough for me to come back to it probably.

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
March 20th 2019


32179 Comments


"for a band named after a lilys song I thought i'd like these guys more "

I think they were more shoegaze when they started but the power of doom got to them at some point.

And that's alright Mars! I already knew going in and seeing the ratings that this was not gonna be everybody's cup of tea.

JohnnyoftheWell
Staff Reviewer
March 20th 2019


62343 Comments


Nice review dude, certainly captured a spirit. This seems like a handful but certainly something I could get into - so far it's hitting me like a grungier version of Mass of the Fermenting Dregs

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
March 20th 2019


32179 Comments


Thanks Johnny. Yeah they have a strong 90s grunge component in between all the drone and the more aggressive parts that i think it works really well.

JohnnyoftheWell
Staff Reviewer
March 21st 2019


62343 Comments


23 shows that off really nicely (as you pointed out) and is really getting through to me rn



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy