NEÀNDER - Eremit LP

Label: Through Love

Any old fool can say, “The sea is beautiful.” Using music to evoke the feelings inspired by that beauty is far, far harder. To some extent, that’s something all instrumental bands have to do: since there are no lyrics to tell you what to feel or think, the music has to inspire emotion and sensation all on its own. Instrumental music is both brave and dangerous In this respect – there is simply nowhere to hide.

Berlin’s Neànder aims to achieve this lofty goal by combining the density of doom, the introspective melancholy of post-rock, and the fury of black metal, all with the focus solely on their instruments. Imagine the thick, smoky riffs of King Goat; Russian Circles at their heaviest; some second-wave blast-beats thrown in for good measure, and you may have some idea what the band aspires to. Now, in a relatively short time, the band is back with sophomore effort Eremit, and out of nowhere, your fall melancholia suddenly has a soundtrack.