[Reviewed by stark]
It is nothing new to me, the fact that Tamar Singer is an exceptionally talented composer and singer. I knew that since the first time I’ve heard the first Zeresh EP, “Sigh For Sigh”. “Farewell” clearly confirms that fact.
On the most fundamental level, this is the extension of the mentioned EP, though obviously it’s more refined and polished up. Once again we deal with emotional dark folk with lyrics based on poems by romantic poets like Tennyson or Yeats. This fragile and delicate aspect is often confronted with drone riffs and industrial walls of sound which add an apocalyptic aura of desperation and hopelessness. Forgive me this kitschy reference, but it reminds me of angels weeping over dead cities, a silent remnant of civilization. In the dark folk little world I notice a thread linking Zeresh with Albireon, the band operating on similar emotions. I catched myself once or twice thinking that Davide’s voice would discover its place in Zeresh’s sound structures.
Furthermore there’s a certain 90s melancholic doom metal vibe in this music. Imagine Anathema or My Dying Bride (but also bands like Canaan or This Empty Flow) stripped of typical metal entourage and instrumentarium, yet with female vocals and a gentle experimental touch. Those atmospheres correspond with each other; it’s the same shade of sadness and despair though reached with different means of expression.
And above all that “Farewell” has produced a fistful of really nice tunes captivating you from the very first listening. Even though the sound sometimes is a bit muffled and reverbed, the music itself has this peculiar catch forcing you to play this again once the last track comes to an end. And I don’t know if it’s just me, but in this musical realm of dark and grey I detect a light, a glimmer of hope: “The Lake Isle Of Innisfree”, which in terms of composition doesn’t really differ from the other songs on the album, but there’s something calming within these sounds, even serene I would say. The spirit of Alcest is looming in the distance…
I received this album last autumn, but I didn’t listen to it until few weeks ago. I regret. You can’t imagine a lovelier “autumn music” than “Farewell” by Zeresh.
Santa Sangre 