White Ring - Gate Of Grief (2018)

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yourambulance
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White Ring - Gate Of Grief (2018)

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https://whitering.bandcamp.com/album/gate-of-grief



1. Heavy Self Alienation
2. Leprosy
3. Angels
4. Close Yr Eyes
5. Fields of Hate
6. Low (featuring Fostercare)
7. Puppy
8. Chained
9. Nothing
10. Lasts In
11. Amerika (Lord Of The Flies)
12. Home Of The Brave
13. Burn It Down
14. Do U Love Me 2?


White Ring Announces New LP "Gate of Grief"
https://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/witch ... ight-years
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zin
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Re: White Ring - Gate Of Grief (2018)

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"Gate Of Grief" was a total surprise for me. After living off the grid for years, WR dropped an album via Rocket Girl out of nowhere, to the excitement of many fans that were patiently waiting for a proper LP since the "Black Earth That Made Me". The trio, with the addition of new singer Adina, put together a continuation of their debut EP, an album, or better to say a compilation filled with tracks composed over the last decade.

Consisting of 14 cuts in the CD version (unfortunately the vinyl lacks incredibe "Close Yr Eyes" and "Chained", still can't believe those were left out, especially the former), the album is an amazing return of the witch house OGs, fleshing out their style and delivering a handful of surprises.

The opening "Heavy Self Alienation" is one of them, very industrial and glitchy (in the vein of Ceremonial Dagger productions), personally I find it quite a weird choice for the intro.#
"Leprosy" was the first single promoting the album if I recall correctly, a throbbing darkwave/electro mashup led by powerful vocals from Kendra, in the vein of Crystal Castles. Incredible beat and mood.
"Angels" takes a step back from the pulsing pace of its predecessor, providing moment of aural bliss, with ethereal vocals that take me back to "Hey Hey, My My + Felt U" 12".
Fans of early works by Ritualz will love "Close Yr Eyes" - a rave-inducing banger that will make you move no matter if you're listening to it on headphones in your bedroom, or during a gig in a warehouse. This would've been a staple for mixtapes back in 2010.
"Fields of Hate", with slightly off-beat vocals, gives me a lot of Heather-led SALEM vibes. It's a great track, but doesn't stand out like "Angels" for example - that could be the fault of its mix/master.
"Low" is actually a remix of the original Fostercare track, lifted from his split with Ritualz. Set against a minimal, echo-filled beat with sparse keys and sounds of raindrops, it transforms into a synth-led composition towards the end. Fantastic blast from the past, that takes one back to the myspace era.
"Puppy" is a trappy solo-rap track from Bryan, which brings to mind CRAVE outputs.
"Chained", which heralds Adina's part of the LP (all previous tracks, sans the intro, feature Kendra), kicks off with a droney synth and ghostly vocals, before the beat amps up tempo at 2 min mark. "Nothing" sounds like tripping out in a disco skate rink.
"Lasts In" and "Burn It Down" float towards the EBM boarders, very raw.
"Amerika (Lord Of The Flies)" is a post-trance syruppy anthem, easily sits among the best tracks from the album (it takes a while to build up though).
"Home Of The Brave" sounds like an uncredited collab with Balam Acab and AraabMuzik, take it as a complement.
The LP closes with dreamy synth and slow beat of "Do U Love Me 2?" - fans of Clams Casino will dig for sure.

In retrospect, if I could shave off a couple of tracks this could be a 9/10 witch house album. As it stands, I'd give it 8/10.


Can I also just highlight how much I love the backstory of the cover art and the title? From the Rocket Girl website:
The album title, Gate of Grief, refers to the real gate between Africa and Saudi Arabia that is believed to be the spot where the first humans migrated out of Africa and went on to populate the rest of the world. The album art ties in with this concept, with an image depicting a group of settlers in the USA in early 1900 during a parade. They were actually from a cult in the early 1900s in Bryan’s hometown of Fort Myers, Florida, as he explains; “A fledgling society peacocking to show their achievements but actually is naive and can be very devastating when you realize no amount of technology is going to save you.”
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STRFLL
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Re: White Ring - Gate Of Grief (2018)

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Probably one of my favourite witch house albums to date, my fav is probably Show Me Heaven.
Some super good stuff, somehow material from 2009-2018 ended up working together really well. My fav track from here is probably Fields of Hate, i just love the slightly hopeful melody and the chill ass drums. out of boredom, i compiled this little chronology of GoG, take it with a grain of salt as it probably contains some errors lol

"Heavy Self Alienation" - 2013/2014 - 2016
"Leprosy" - 2012
"Angels" - 2012
"Close Yr Eyes" - 2012
"Fields of Hate" - 2012
"Low" (featuring Fostercare) - 2011 - 2018?
"Puppy" - 2013
"Chained (Interlude)" - 2011-2013?
"Nothing" - 2009
"Lasts In" - 2016-2018?
"Amerika (Lord of the Flies)" - 2012
"Home of the Brave" - 2016-2018?
"Burn It Down" - 2016-2018?
"Do U Love Me 2?" - 2012
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