2015 was a year with many great metal records. Under the Red Cloud by Amorphis, New Bermuda by Deafheaven, Intronaut’s The Direction of Last Things, In Times by Enslaved, just to name a few. And when i thought that Amorphis will take the title of my metal AOTY, I heard Marriages.
Emma Ruth Rundle, guitarist of Red Sparowes and a singer/songwriter with one solo album under her belt enchanted me. Her voice is so dreamy, so mesmerizing. But vocals are not enough to make an album standing out, and this is the case with this record. If music wasn’t as good as singing, this would be just another alternative metal album, one of the thousands that get released every year. But the music here, oh my, it’s so good. The combination of alternative, post-rock and a pinch of grunge that spices up things in a couple of songs is surely a winning combination.
If you add beautiful and dreamy song structure reminiscent of 80’s pop to the equation you get one of the best metal albums of 2015. I actually haven’t heard about Marriages up until one month ago, and as it usually happens, it completely blew me away. Replay value of Salome, in my opinion, can only be compared to Crosses debut record. These songs are like drugs, you just can’t get enough of them, and you’ll end up listening through the whole album and asking for more.
The songwriting, general atmosphere, and just the level of craftsmanship that these guys (and a girl) have is just top notch. I rarely add an album to my everyday playlist but Salome deserves this because songs can be listened to again and again, and still offer some new sundries to feast your ears with. It’s a journey of continuing discovery, and with every new playthrough, you’ll be sucked more deeply into the magical hat that Salome is.
Salome is an album that should be checked out by everybody, it just has that universal appeal that isn’t based on mainstream sound, and that is something extremely rare to find these days. Do yourself a favor and listen to it, you’ll be amazed. After doing that, find some Emma’s solo work, it has the same atmosphere, although it isn’t of the same genre.
Standout songs: Every. Single. One
