There was a short phase where Ezekiel cooperated in writing for RWHAF. His first post was about the band Roses Never Fade. Musically that was something totally new here. As I almost exclusively feature Hardcore in all it’s facets. Ezekiel was directly operating under the same URL, but it turned out to be an impossible dream.
Anyway, there are other people who do the same thing as me still, although under their own flag. A person who was blogging already a short while before me was Marcus from the blog site and label Endless Quest. That is a good name, because record collecting is indeed an endless quest as the genres evolve further. Well I’ve traded with him recently.
So when I got something he wanted, I was invited to look for something I wanted from him. It turned out more than one record I was interested in. I will post this one that I listened to the most recently. The facts behind my choice already written out. Ezekiel who made me interested in their sound and Marcus who collects Integrity.
Although this is not Integrity, Dwid is intensely related to this band and release. His artwork is featured in the lay out, he does vocals and plays piano. Dwid has in my opinion – when swiftly over viewing his output – made other facets of music, artwork, philosophy and reality crawl into the field of Hardcore. He is an artist who explores many different musical styles and creates them too. Nobody needs to be told that Holy Terror came into Hardcore due to his release “Humanity Is The Devil”. That was probably his biggest realization.I won’t go elaborating all I know about his work. Just shedding light upon this release.
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| Roses Never Fade “Fade To Black” LP clear vinyl |
The first thing that caught my attention was the artwork. The packaging mostly is the first impression when flipping (or nowadays browsing) through records. It’s an eye-catcher for sure. The warm yellow on black cover is simple yet effective due the contrast. Also the typographical back side works in the same way. The almost symmetrical creature is interesting because it fools you as to what it exactly is. You might think it’s symmetrical but it isn’t. You might see a bat in it or a dragon or whatever you imagination tells at the moment.
I’ve a soft spot for crystal clear vinyl. And this record is made in such vinyl. A-side label is the standard A389 artwork, while I’m sure the B-side label is by Dwid’s hand.
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| Back cover and B-side label |
The music is not easy listening because it’s acoustic, pretty far from. This music requires attention and effort to consume. To me it’s best described as having a dark moody undertone created by several guitars, percussion instruments and the piano. But now and then light sheds and scares away the darkness. The musicians are not too lush with the parts that shed light on the whole.
Vocals are whispered. You know the feeling of hearing someone whispering and not being able to understand. It creates a feeling of curiosity but also distrust towards the whisperers.Lyrically Dwid explores the thoughts of alienation and feeling of being the misfit. But also about initial believes that cannot hold true any longer. The journey of finding and realizing the truth. The suffering and darkness he witnesses by other souls of mankind. Ethics and other impulses that steer our behavior.
Anyway, I won’t go more deeply into the lyrics as they are worth more than a post alone. Very broad and deep they reach and would be too long.
Nice post mate – such a great record!