Melynda Jackson is one of the most intriguing musicians to emerge over the last two decades. As a former guitarist in psychedelic rockers, SubArachnoid Space, she formed Eight Bells in 2011 as an experimental metal trio with no boundaries and no limitations. Now on her third album, Legacy of Ruin sees a radical line-up change with Cormorant’s Matt Solis taking over on bass and vocals and Brian Burke replacing Christopher Van Huffel on the drum stool. The personnel might be in flux and unsteady, but the music is masterful in its coherence and vision. Indeed, this is one of the most original metal records you’ll hear all year.
Defining the enigmatic sound of Eight Bells will tie you in knots throughout the forty-five minutes of Legacy of Ruin but think of it as an ethereal doom metal take on Swans with the unbridled aggression of Neurosis and the funereal sorrow of the early Cure albums. Opening track, ‘Destroyer’, starts with mystical hymn-chanting and atmospheric pedal loops before Jackson steps on the fuzz pedal and rips into an ear-threatening doom passage aimed right at your oesophagus. The addition of Matt Solis allows the composition to incorporate dexterous bass patterns among the crushing riffs, yet the band seldom stick to a settled tempo here. One moment they’re lowering their heads in the aching anguish of dark minor chords. The next, they’re ripping through a monstrous blast of eighth-note rhythms and fast tremolo picking. It’s ugly and beautiful at the same time, with the dual harmony vocals pleading to a higher power for deliverance. Imagine the audio equivalent of a hostage preparing their mind for an imminent execution at the hands of their captors.
What is it about the dual vocals that are so unique? ‘The Well’ gives you eleven minutes to ponder this question. Jackson and Solis project hope and despair in SOS mode, yet their voices sparkle like religious icons illuminated in an arrangement of ceremonial candles. Minimalist piano sprinkles and semi-clean guitars give way to painful doom metal melodies and double-kick patterns. Converge and Chelsea Wolfe needed a song like this to elevate their recent collaboration album to instant classic status. Lingua Ignota’s next record could also learn from the layered sophistication on offer here. Eights Bells have the harrowing vocals and the unsettling musical foundations to go with them.
The feverish post-metal of ‘Torpid Dreamer’ is a heavy burden your body cannot withstand. Shame and regret are the underlying emotions here. You’ll scratch your shoulders and clench your jaw and wonder how the litany off mistakes you made in the past will come back to haunt you. Yet the biggest triumph of Legacy of Ruin is the way it explores the minimalist misery of the early 1980s post-punk period through the prism of doom metal. Artists like My Dying Bride, Anathema and Warning know this terrain, but none of them go as far as Eight Bells on ‘Nadir’. The throbbing beauty of this song deserves a place next to The Cure’s ‘All Cats Are Grey’ for its emotional poignancy.
There’s always the danger of harm at the back of your mind from an unknown and unseen assailant. The band sense this in the unease of their musical dynamics. Listen how ‘The Crone’ jumps from post-rock to black metal. The low guttural vocals in ‘Premonition’ surprise you among the post-metal octave chords and tense drum rhythms. What is that spectre in the distance that disrupts your inner peace?
Eight Bells must have a sense of humour for promoting their art as ‘not party music’. But it’s also true. This record is a morbid meditation on death. Legacy of Ruin uncovers a glimpse of beauty among the maudlin angst of its creators, but you’re under no illusions – nothing lasts forever. We shall all perish in the end, and this is the record that can prepare you for the afterlife.
JVB
Verdict
Release Date: 25/02/2022
Record Label: Prophecy Productions
Standout tracks: Destroyer, The Well, Nadir
Suggested Further Listening: Converge, Chelsea Wolfe – Bloodmoon: I (2021), The Cure – Faith (1981), My Dying Bride – Evinta (2011)