Growing up, one of my favorite metal bands was the all-female group Kittie, spearheaded by Morgan and Mercedes Lander. Even if it flew under the radar in its original run, I still regularly play tracks off of their Funeral for Yesterday album like I’m still in middle school.
So imagine my surprise and delight to find out that Mercedes Lander, drummer in Kittie, now fronts a doom/sludge metal band out of her native London, Ontario known as The White Swan. Lander not only sings for the band, but plays guitar, drums, and keyboards, putting her decades of experience with her prior band to great use. Flanked by bassist Kira Longeuay and guitarist Shane Jeffers (Bloodmoon Collective), the band has released a series of EPs since their 2016 formation, with their newest effort Nocturnal Transmission due out on War Crime Recordings on September 18th.
As such, earlier this week, REVOLVER premiered the first of four songs to be released on the EP, this one titled “In Love and Ritual.” Starting in with an uneasy tag team of a down-sliding bass line paired with Lander’s vocals and a pounding drum intro, the song blossoms into a weighty ball of sludge before long. Later verses add guitar feedback and a haunting keyboard line to give a shoegaze edge to this darkly beautiful track.
After hearing the more uptempo, urgent music that populates much of Kittie’s catalog, it’s nice to hear something different from at least one of its members, and something far removed from that band’s typical fare at that. It’s accessible enough for those who recognize the band name and reputation, but even for those who aren’t as familiar, this is a fine doom metal track in its own right.
Here is the tracklisting for Nocturnal Transmission, due out September 18th via War Crime Recordings:
1. In Love and Ritual
2. Nocturnal Transmission
3. Purple
4. Tell It To The Sky (Tracy Bonham cover)
Watch the black-and-white music video for “In Love and Ritual” below, and pre-order Nocturnal Transmission here:
留言