The Old Dead Tree continues its momentum.
After a highly anticipated return to the studio last year, the band led by Manuel Munoz (vocals/guitar, Arkan, live for Melted Space), Nicolas Chevrollier (guitar, Ommatidia, ex-Monolithe), Nicolas Cornolo (guitar), Gilles Moinet (bass, Lux Incerta) and Raphaël Antheaume (drums, Penumbra) unveils London Sessions EP, thanks to Season of Mist.
The band kicks off with Feel Alive Again, a composition starting off fairly simply but quickly adopts a prog touch as well as hints of Doom to recreate a melancholic mix of intriguing sounds accompanied by Manuel‘s expressive voice, which naturally leads the way. The track quickly moves on to Time Has Come, a slightly more disturbing track that remains in an accessible groove with warm, almost reassuring tones that lean towards Post-Rock in the quieter passages, while By The Way offers us much more ethereal elements to start with. It doesn’t take long for the song to darken naturally and let the guitars wander in the background between two choruses, while they take on a much more important role during the choruses, as on What Else Could We’ve Said, a track of varying intensity that offers us passages similar to a ballad, but also a much more powerful double kick final that closes the EP.
Far from taking another break, The Old Dead Tree has returned to the stage, while making a quick detour to the legendary Abbey Road Studios to offer us London Sessions EP, a kind of early Christmas present.
80/100
