Vancouver outfit Sex Church performed a final show in August 2014. Apparently, that didn’t exclude the possibility of releasing new music. Enter Flowers, a new and presumably final full-length statement out now via Limited Appeal Records. Since most Sex Church songs feel somewhat funereal, consider this one a transmission from the other side.
On earlier titles, perhaps most vividly 2013’s Somnambulist 12″, Sex Church constructed mighty, heaving rock songs that ascended to towering heights and collapsed. Melodies fought their way out of guitar scree while thudding drums and serrated or croaked vocals contributed to a mood that felt indisputably goth but unencumbered by the usual trappings.
“Watch It Burn”, the first track shared from Flowers, is similar in scope. At first, the central riff feels familiarly vigorous, but the deceivingly straight-ahead song destabilizes across a span of more than five minutes. The guitar splinters into countless needle points and the vocals contort into nastily elongated creaks until “Watch it Burn” nears the harrowing dimensions of Sex Church’s best material.
Below, stream “Watch It Burn” and revisit Somnambulist
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