Premiere Stream: Hermetic Delight – Vow EP

Tribal drums, guitars that churn and slash. On their fourth EP, Vow, Hermetic Delight meld classic post punk with shoegaze accents, infused with desperate insistence. Due 15 April on October Tone (Musicast Distribution), Hermetic Delight kick it up another notch, demanding your undivided attention. And right from the opening anthem (elegy? processional?) of “War is Closer”, you can tell that Vow isn’t quite like anything else. Press play and read on.
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While “War is Closer” sets the cornerstone for the new EP, it only serves as a guidepost, not the endpoint. “Circles” wails with Siouxsie-like insistence and a fever-dream buildup, and feels like it might have been right at home on your early eighties mixtape alongside Xmal Deutschland. With its less-than-evocative title, “Interlude” might seem a toss-off, a bridge between the worlds. Don’t get comfortable. This brief but beautiful mess polishes psych, tribal noise, and an almost Doorsian bent, just to keep you on your toes.
“Vow” and “Murderbeat” follow this interlude, and the proceedings have buy cheap metronidazole online built to this particular moment. “Vow” feels all like love and betrayal, with Zey’s vocals sprawling over the top of the guitar haze. “Murderbeat” is an exercise in tension-building and unease-making, the natural conclusion of spending too much time contemplating the punishment for betrayal.
“Marian” is a jewel of dark goth-gaze pop, layered exquisitely, and you may well end up putting this track on repeat, just to get lost in the feeling. The elegaic”Outro” really is the only fitting ending to this EP, looping back to the opener “War is Closer”, but running its main theme through a Lynch/Badalamenti ‘mood processor’. Well thought-out, brilliantly executed, this is a fine taste of what Hermetic Delight is capable of. If you’re looking for something emotionally engaging, a bit more ambitious than your standard fare, Hermetic Delight welcomes you to their parlor on Vow. Be warned, however, there may be no escape.
Visit Hermetic Delight via their website, where Vow is available for preorder, and follow them on Facebook. Photo Credit: Gauthier Humbert.