GosT – Rites Of Love And Reverence [Century Media Records]

GosT aka James Lollar is one of the acts that has recently moved from pure synthwave to a crossover style mixing the genre with other elements, a way followed by other names like Perturbator and Carpenter Brut.

Starting with «Possessor» he has progressly enhanced his music with darkwave vibes, black metal screaming and some electro-industrial overtones, a process redefined in «Valediction» – the first album on the metal label Century Media Records and a major shift from synthwave to a sort of electro-black metal much resembling dark electro and harsh EBM in spirit.

Now the artist takes a step back and one forward with «Rites Of Love And Reverence», a work in which typical darksynth distorted and syncopated basslines return in order to be mixed with post-punk guitars, minimal wave and darkwave influences, and decadent vocals coming from the dark corners of the 80’s.

The result is quite peculiar, showcasing tracks like «Coven» or «Burning Thyme» that change their musical direction even abruptly – the second one shifting from neo-folk to techno-pop in a surprising twist.

Moments like «Bound By The Horror» have more dubstep/EDM syncopation, while «November Is Death» strongly resembles modern minimal wave ala Boy Harsher with its fusion of darkwave and EBM basslines.

All in all the album has many different facets and experiments old together by a common «gothic vibe», even if sometimes this fusion of different styles could overwhelm the listener. The only real complaint is the sparse use of distorted vocals and aggression, an element that would have added more dynamic to the whole and that was strongly showcased in the previous effort.

Release date: August 13th, 2021

Text by: Davide Pappalardo