Review: In Death It Ends - 'Shrines'

IN DEATH IT ENDS
'Shrines'
AUFNAHME + WIEDERGABE

In Death It Ends' scale of output is impressive. It seems as though every couple of months Porl King has something new up his sleeve to unleash. You'd be forgiven that with his latest offering 'Shrines' coming so soon after long-player 'Analog Witch' and the recent EP 'Ghosts', King would be scraping the barrel in terms of ideas. But once again he come up with the goods.

King's sense groove has really defined the In Death It Ends sound. The infectious new wave style bass lines provide a sturdy back bone to each song and allow the more experimental melodies and drones to take shape around them. The result is always something interesting but accessible.

'Shrines', opened up with the delightfully mechanical sounding 'Wrathful And Sullen'. With the bass high in the mix it adds Nitzer Ebb-esque rhythms and minimal-industrial synths for a dark and danceable track. 'It Came From Sorrow' is a more overt new wave inspired track that reflects previous cuts such as 'Centre Of A Circle' and 'We All Die', but the stuttering beats and jarring synths add a definite identity of its own.

'Veil Of Clouded Verse' is a darker grittier track that plays on the electronic elements a lot more. It is richly layered and gritty in style, with that pronounced industrial leaning surfacing again. The EP concludes with 'Against The Fates', which is the most overtly industrial sounding track with a stuttering central beat, mechanical sounding synths and more overtly noisy flirtations. It's a nice change of pace and a bit more experimental than usual, but still retains that seed of melody that keeps it appealing to the casual listener.

'Shrines', once again, is a finely crafted release from King. It balances the experimental witch-house elements of the IDIE sound with that fundamental grounding in good new wave / post-punk sound. All the while keeping a nice late 80s industrial style sheen to the overall atmosphere.

Its another solid release from King, but with releasing so many single/EP length items it is going to be interesting to see what he is going to pull out of the bag when it comes time for another full-length album.

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