Poisoned Apple (A Song for Luci)

Vardlokker is a very busy musician, with the amount of releases he drops in a year's time combined with the fact that he runs a label, and seems relentless with material. Just when I thought Witchbones was gone, this one has returned with a new EP that I had to give a spin just because of how shocking The Seas Of Draugen was. Though that particular album wasn't entirely my cup of tea, I was able to appreciate how different it was, as well as the huge scare factor.

So going into Poisoned Apple (A Song For Luci), I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Given that it's one long track consisting of multiple phases, there's some clear progressions to be found. The haunting growl/howl of incomprehensible vocal work is still there, and the tingling blackened aesthetic still reigns over everything regarding production and atmosphere. But there's something here that made it stand out, particularly in the first phase, and that's the emotion. The crawling guitars mixed with this scary backbone made for an intriguing blend of feelings that were unclear, until it unfolded into an acoustic lick that casts hopeful signs of light.

About halfway through, there's an obvious shift back into the darker territory, this time keeping it more monstrous than anything. There's actually a lot of doom injection, considering the booming stomp that kicks up the proverbial dust. There's a surprising amount of melody to go with that, before leading to rhythms that draw themselves out and slowly make an impressionable exit. The biggest constants here are obviously the vocals, and the muffled drums that carry it from start to finish. Well worth the thirteen minutes of time, and though it's rather unclear what the story behind it is, I can tell it was amped up with deeper feeling.