Label: Sargent House
RIYL: Russian Circles, Pallbearer, High On Fire, Sleep, Cave In
FCC: Clean
Check Out: 1, 5, 7
From Promoter: Chicago’s REZN has released their new album, Burden, via Sargent House. “Indigo” finds the rhythm section of bassist Phil Cangelosi and drummer Patrick Dunn churning out an authoritative Godflesh-like battery while vocalist/guitarist Rob McWilliams and synth player/saxophonist Spencer Ouellette drape their martial stomp in ominous interwoven melodies. The marriage of brute force with sublime textures has always been a key tactic in REZN’s approach, but the spectrum of the band’s mercurial temperaments has never felt as clearly defined and fully harnessed as it does on Burden.
While REZN’s previous album, Solace, embraced similar contrasts, it leaned towards the loftier peaks in the band’s sound, as evidenced in the album’s artwork of snow topped mountains provided by Adam Burke / Nightjar Illustration. Burden’s artwork is a literal continuation of Solace’s landscape painting, showing the fiery depths at the foot of the mountain range. The marriage of brute force and sublime textures has always been a key tactic in REZN’s approach, but the spectrum of the band’s mercurial temperaments has never felt as clearly defined and fully explored as it does on Burden.
WRUV Reviews 