Another excellent EP that came out this year (and there were several). Lu.Re’s EP of house music mixed with a bit of dark wave was an EP that made me sit up and think, “Oh, I need more of this.”
Seriously, there was a ton of great electro and house music released last year. I’m sure I barely heard the tip of the iceberg, and yet there were great finds like this EP from Abdul Raeva that hits heavy and with undeniable grooves.
It wouldn’t be a “best of the year” list for me without some doom metal, and Frayle‘s newest album fits the bill. Described to me as “Black Sabbath meets Portishead,” I knew I was going to like it. Imagine the ghost of a witch fronting a doom band, and you’ll get the idea.
As weird and wild as the cover depicts, Goat‘s new album covers death, transcendence, and sex – three of their favorite topics – and was a great return for them. Their psychedelic voodoo sound was sorely missed.
Who makes it in to the top half of my best records of the year? Tune in tomorrow!
Keep your mind open.
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I’m going to listen to your record if your band is described to me as “Black Sabbath meets Portishead.”
Such is Cleveland, Ohio’s Frayle and such is their second album, Skin & Sorrow. The album is as dark and haunting as its cover image of lead singer Gwen Strang, who apparently has walked off the set of a lost Hammer Studios film from the early 1960s. Ms. Strang, and the rest of the band (Sean Bilovecky – guitar, Jason Knotek – bass, and Jon Vinson – drums), immediately give you a sense of, “Do not fuck around with these people. They can be your cool friends who will help you through a lot of stuff, though.”
Which is what Skin and Sorrow does. It’s an album about processing grief and heartbreak. It’s a haunting record, but it does seem to offer hope and beauty. Again, the cover image of Strang dressed as mournful ghost conveys death and dread, but she’s holding white roses. Yes, they’re wilted roses, but they haven’t lost all of their color and pedals. They’re still a bit hopeful.
Bilovecky’s opening riff on “Treacle and Revenge” is almost a Godzilla-like roar and Strang’s voice is like smoke curling around your ears as she sings “You promised to love me.” It sounds like the beginning of a curse. The song goes from doom into a brief tear of stadium rock, showing they have serious chops. Knotek’s bass seems to hit extra hard on “Bright Eyes” while Strang sings lullaby-like vocals drifting from an abandoned hospital that’s overgrown with ivy. The title track starts with Link Wray-like guitar chords from Bilovecky, and Vinson’s drums sound like they were recorded late one night / early one morning in the store room of a bar run by warlocks.
It’s interesting how “Ipecac,” a song whose title is the name of medicine that purposefully induces vomiting, is one of the loveliest on the record. Strang sings about purging past wounds and things that are slowly poisoning her, but does it with a sensuality you can’t ignore. The heavy, cosmic “Stars” is a crushing track, both lyrically and sonically.
“Roses” and “Sacrifant” are equally heavy and mesmerizing. “Sacrifant” also has this buzz to it like an angry queen hornet following you around the room. “All the Things I Was” has the queen hornet turn into a raven flying away from Strang and carrying her past trauma on its back to eventually cast into the sun. You’re fully expecting “Song for the Dead” to be creepy and guttural, but it’s more like emerging from a mausoleum as a lovely sunrise has begun. Yes, you might be emerging from it as a ghost, but you’re realizing that it’s going to be okay. The closing track, “Perfect Wound,” reminds me a bit of Nirvana‘s “Something in the Way” with its guitar strums and subject matter, but it’s far more otherworldly than Nirvana’s song, and Strang’s vocals come from under a bridge guarded by sirens instead of trolls.
Skin & Sorrow is beautiful and dark, lovely and sad, uplifting and haunting. How many other bands could pull off a sound like that on just their second record? Not many.
Frayle’s newest single and video may be their most gripping yet. The ritual doom metal act, featuring frontwoman Gwyn Strang andguitarist Sean Bilovecky, is partnering with Knotfest.com to premiere the video today. Filmed in New York City and Salem, Massachusetts, the infamous site of the Salem Witch Trials, the provocative art piece is a powerful meditation on empowerment and shedding the mask to reveal the true self.
Says Strang, “’Bright Eyes’ is about the facade we wear when we’re going through something heavy. Sometimes we’ll mask what we’re going through so that everyone around us feels comfortable or doesn’t ask us to show and share our vulnerabilities.
The imagery of a female ‘goth’ roller skating past the house that was once lived in by a judge that was personally responsible for the executions during the Salem Witch Trials is powerful to us.”
As Knotfest.com declares, “Embracing a unique balance of doom that encapsulates an element of the harmonious and the hulking, the band’s pedigree spans a sophisticated stylistic spectrum … Anchored by Strang’s often heartbreaking, harrowing vocal harmony is countered by Bilovecky’s metallic blare – the kind of lumbering guitar riffage that layers with suffocating heft.”
“Bright Eyes” is from Frayle’s forthcoming LP, Skin & Sorrow, which will now be released September 23 via Aqualamb Records.
Skin & Sorrow was fully written and recorded by Bilovecky and Strang from the third floor of their own studio, on the edge of Cleveland, surrounded by ancient lakes and woods that echo the howls of coyotes. The band is rounded out live by Jason Knotek on bass and Jon Vinson on drums.
The record follows Frayle’s groundbreaking debut 1692in 2020 that further introduced the world to their penchant for creating “lullabies over chaos.” Tracks feature Strang’s ambient vocals laid over the voluminous instrumentals of Bilovecky (formerly of Disengage), morphing into disturbing harmonies best described as music for the night sky and are poised to dominate the doom circuit.
In addition to haunting original tracks that push heavy music into new dimensions (an inspirational mix of Sleep and Portishead, or Black Sabbath and Bjork), the duo is known for their cryptic covers including takes on Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” and Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.”
Their passioned creations have caught the attention of Revolverwho named the band “one of the five artists you need to know in April” as seen HERE, who called their previously-released title track “eerie and ethereal for its first half, but slowly lets more crunchy fuzz into the fold that builds up to a detonating finish with gobs of spiritual atmosphere.” As well Metal Hammer has heralded Frayle as “the new face of doom” in their latest issue.
Recently, Frayle signed to The Oracle Management, now part of the roster that also includes Cradle of Filth, DevilDriver, Jinjer, Wednesday 13 and more hard rock and metal acts all represented by co-owners of The Oracle ManagementDez and Anahstasia Fafara. In one of the first orders of business, Frayle joined on for Cradle of Filth’s “Existence Is Futile” Headlining Tour.
The track listing for Skin & Sorrow includes:
1. Treacle & Revenge
2. Bright Eyes
3. Skin & Sorrow
4. Ipecac
5. Stars
6. Roses
7. Sacrifant
8. All The Things I Was
9. Song For The Dead
10. Perfect Wound
Presales forSkin & Sorrow are available now atAqualamb Records’ website with iridescent, metallic blue, metallic turquoise and metallic violet vinyl variants, CD and digital options. dditional Europe only vinyl variants will be coming via Lay Bare Recordings. Each purchase comes with an accompanying 100-page book filled with lush artwork, drawings, lyrics and additional content to get inside the mind of Frayle and the creative process.
About Frayle
Heavy, Low, & Witchy. Frayle is a doom, sludge band from Cleveland, formed in 2017 by guitarist Sean Bilovecky (ex-DISENGAGE) and singer Gwyn Strang. They draw their inspiration from bands like Sleep, Portishead, Bjork, Kyuss, & Black Sabbath. Frayle makes music for the night sky.
