MURDERBAIT
WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, IT GOES DOWN FOREVER (SENTIENT RUIN LABORATORIS)
label:
SENTIENT RUIN LABORATORIS
American epic gothic rock/post-punks Murderbait issue their haunting sophomore EP "When the Sun Goes Down it Goes Down Forever" for the first time ever on vinyl via Sentient Ruin.
Initially self-released on cassette tape and digitally by the band itself in 2019, with its majestic songwriting and heart-splitting dramaticism the mesmerizing two-track short player established the Portland, Oregon-based atmospheric gothic rockers as a cornerstone example of epic and dark western gothic excellence and as a beacon of superb and dramatic storytelling lost in a night of endless gloom and unravelling romanticism.
Through its two epic spells of haunting psychedelic goth majesty, "When the Sun Goes Down it Goes Down Forever" unfolds nearly twenty minutes of dark western lore and dusty somber storytelling soaked in gloom and shadows, uncovering dark recollections of personal turmoil and decay, inner downfall, purgatory, redemption and rebirth through the trial of struggle and penitence.
The two tracks display an unrivaled and unseen evocative power, channeled by a dramatic and operatic vocal delivery as centerpiece to a cinematic construct of epic progressive buildups and dark psychedelic dirges woven with keyboards, organs, electric guitars, synths and a monumental pulsing rhythm section.
With influences sourced from a diverse pletora of legendary acts like Nick Cave (a song of which inspired the band's name), Swans, Fields of the Nephilim, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, The Cure (especially Pornography and Disintegration era), Earth, Dead Can Dance, Bauhaus, Tangerine Dream, and John Carpenter, Murderbait's masterful fusion of epic prog, majestic gothic/deathrock, post-punk, darkwave, space rock and subtle touches of dark americana and roots music reminiscent of acts like Wovenhand, stands tall as a towering and unrivaled masterpiece of dramatic American underground epic dark rock.