The Great Flood
Rope Sect
•
August 14, 2020
Anonymity usually serves to protect the identity of those who need it through either leniencies of legality, or to more aptly serve to better represent a cause or movement, such as V in "V For Vendetta." The purpose of ROPE SECT's self inflicted obfuscation lends more questions than answers, though despite having no face or name, the music carries on with fervor and fortitude.
The album opens with the song, "Divide Et Impera," begins with a quote from scripture Genesis 6:17 to be specific, which is-by design-an impressive and overly intentional prelude to the album, "The Great Flood." The rest of the song burrows into the listener's psyche, a torrent of washed percussion, saturated guitars, bouncing bass, and near prose vocals craft something of a melancholic and macabre Surfer Rock tone. "Rope Of The Just" follows the timbre and sensationalism of its predecessor's tonality, tho.ugh this time possessing more dynamics in volume and tempo. "Hireath" is a word of interesting origin and meaning, being closer described as an antonym to Wanderlust than a simple cognate of Home-sickness-the song builds upon such longings which can be heard at the resolve of each tensed passage, the verse in particular having this grand semblance of being homeward bound. "Flood Flower," manages extreme dynamic stress moving in and out of slow and subtle sections unto pounding and hastened progressions. "Dilluvian Darkness" is an image piece, crafting the sensation of drowning in darkness-an echo escapes into the void of a sleeping silence as the last pulsing of a forgotten tune dies out in the distance, beyond any tangible reach.
Easy to listen and difficult to analyze the instrumentation is built on multiple levels of clarity and intentionally obscured passages creating this soundscape, near similar in effect, to bobbing in and out of water. The guitars are the most dynamic within this caliber as usually the left channel will sound pristine as the right is a bit more dredged in saturation and sways in and out of stereo focus; the bass is a constant deep driven force sounding as a heaving entity getting closer and closer at the progression of each song; the drums are perhaps the most mysterious in design as theirs is a sound that is intentionally denigrated to sound as a lower quality, such that the snare is deep in tone and the cymbals are the only truly discernible feature of the kit; the vocals are similar in design to the rest of the instruments revolving around drowning notes and obscurity.
"The Great Flood" is an odd conception such that it's unclear if the album is a satire of music using a biblical story as an allegory of comparison of it is attempting something else entirely-by any measure or motif the music is not for everyone as it has an ostentatious and nostalgic quality to it, not dissimilar to the likes of THE ZOMBIES, VANILLA FUDGE, and IRON BUTTERFLY - if you have a penchant for the odd and obscure this band is a champion among combatants.
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"The Great Flood" Track-listing:
1. Divide Et Impera
2. Rope Of The Just
3. Eleutheria
4. Prison Of You
5. The Underground Paradise
6. Hiraeth
7. Flood Flower
8. Non Serviemus
9. Issohadores
10. Dilluvian Darkness
Rope Sect Lineup:
Anonymous - All instruments and vocals
More results...