Cats of Transnistria have just released their first new album in over five years, digitally and as a limited edition vinyl on 21st March.
Guest reviewer Nicolay Løvvold, a Norwegian musician of growing domestic and international recognition, runs the rule over the track ‘Horrors’.
I always look at new music in a very specific manner: I do the visual and title check by glancing first, to see if anything catches my attention. Call me a hypocrite and assume that I “judge by the cover” if you must, but also…
It’s not about being uninterested, but rather about trusting the artist behind the music and that they have put a lot of thought into these things, too. There’s a reason why the music is being presented to you in one particular way.
So, ‘Horrors’.
Well, the implied associations are obvious, and the description in the song’s music video suggests there will be some links to Terminator 2: Judgment Day; thereby hinting that the horrors in question might be somewhat apocalyptic in nature. Furthermore, it is elaborated that the song writing process was influenced by topics like climate change, fascism, inequality and an uncertain future.
In short, the introduction to this song tells that the aim is to provoke deep reflections of several relevant topics and the reasoning behind the choice of title becomes very apparent.
I suppose my best description for this type of music would be something like “Ambient rock chill out” (not sure if that’s a proper genre, but I’ve decided to run with it). It’s a slow-paced piece where tension builds up over time – something which immediately draws thoughts towards our climate.
The blend with nostalgia-driven synths and drums that harkens back to the 80s in terms of sound-design, and clean guitars where female vocals resonate with long vowels (obligatory with this type of music) that’s both ethereal and hauntingly beautiful, creates a very Zen soundscape where you’re just floating silently along with your own thoughts.
With the world being as it is today, and with our every day being as busy as they can sometimes be, we need this kind of music in our lives. We need it, and we need to give time for it to have a place among our many duties.
Side note: When the drums are being driven heavy with exaggerated saturation towards the end and you can’t help but think: “Ah, Genesis! Ah, Phil Collins!” that is just pure, nostalgic icing on the cake. Perfect, I love it!
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catsoftransnistria
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catsoftransnistria/
Bandcamp (track): https://catsoftransnistria.bandcamp.com/track/horrors
