Hours of Worship unveils their debut album.
Created between Lisbon, Portugal and New York, USA, the duo signs with Iron Bonehead for the release of The Cold That You Left.
It should be noted that all the tracks on this album reside on the same basis of impressive keyboards, melancholic orchestrations and dark vocals, so I chose to soak up the overall atmosphere. From the first notes of Your Lonely Death My Crown, we feel invaded by an unfathomable sadness, guided by this ghostly voice that wanders between the airy layers of sound with heavy Gothic accents. But we will also notice the presence of choirs which appear on Fear in Bloom, and which will continue on the very solemn Watching You Beg for Your Life and its Post-Punk accents. The band introduces softer and more melodic elements with Ancient Pain, while letting those macabre roots express themselves through low tones before cleansing the sound for Deep Depression, allowing the bleak slowness to welcome some airy melodies. Again, the atmosphere darkens for A Wretch and a Liar, while offering more regular hits as well as transcendent sounds borrowed from Synthwave at the end of the track, then melancholy comes back with I Know It Hurts You while keeping the impressive keyboards in the slowness. There By the Window offers us very soft vocal parts with a soothing rhythmic, then Wasting Away Forever closes the album with more surprising, even mystical sonorities on some parts.
At the same time far and close to everything we know, Hours of Worship finds its place in a Gothic universe with airy sounds. Whether it is darkness or soaring sounds that you are looking for, The Cold That You Left will bring it to you.
80/100