Artist: Priest
Title: Obey
Genre: Synth Pop / Electronica / Techno
Release Date: 29th March 2019
Label: Lövely Records
Album Review
The Swedish Synth Pop band PRIEST is back with a new EP called ‘Obey’ and so there are five new songs to discover. The debut album, ‘New Flesh’ released in 2017, got a lot of public attention and so PRIEST became immediately a very promising act in the Synth & Electro genre. The extravagant leather and pikes mask of the singer & front man and the dominant 80ies and 90ies synths are just two of the things that stick to your mind when you see and listen to the trio from Stockholm for the first time. The EP is recorded with the former singer who left the band just after ‘Obey’ was recorded.
The EP starts with the title track, ‘Obey’, a very catchy song with dominant and playful synths. The keys are really dominant in here, but also the vocals just stick to your mind and don’t let you go. I just had the chance to see the band live at the E-Tropolis Festival in Oberhausen with the new singer actually, and that was also the song that kept rotating in my head even on my way home during the long train journey. A really outstanding and greatly produced track.
‘Ceremony’ starts with a little of the attitude of ‘Obey’, but darker and less melodic, but more disturbing, especially in the kind that the lyrics are recorded. The vocals sound less human, more like a robot, very straight, but also including a very melodic part vocal in the middle and second part of the song. The keys create a lot of atmosphere and here the switch to the 90ies gets more noticeable. ‘Neuromancer’ is also a track that is covered in electronical darkness. Significant about it is the way that it sounds much more sensual and tempting. A lot of variance in the vocals is also dominant about it and the instrumental part is driving. It is surprising how well PRIEST manage to transfer obviously 80ies influenced ideas into 2019 without making them sound odd or old.
‘Street Spirit’ awakens a very intense kind of nostalgia and is - compared to the previous songs - a calm, resting in itself song giving the time to come down after the fast and driving songs that appeared before. A lovely, almost magical Synth Pop ballad with the ability to make you forget the world outside for 4:15 minutes. This song is actually a cover from RADIOHEAD, but fully rearranged as a PRIEST song. The last track of the EP, ‘Tria Prima 2’, has a more disturbing intro and is actually an almost fully instrumental song that is experimenting with different sounds and details. Around 5:00 minutes a short voice sample appears, beside of that it stays instrumental. The song is dominated by a Trance, Techno & Goa influenced sound, and something that seems like a break from the 80ies Synth Pop dominated songs.
All in a very diverse and tempting record that shows a wider spectrum of music influences than you might think at the first listen. It remains to be seen how PRIEST go on with the new front man and vocalist. The next live appearances are going to be on tour supporting AESTHETIC PERFECTION in April who release their new album, ‘Into The Black’, on the same date, 29th March 2019 and so we get to see how the new vocalist adjusts to the songs and their performance after the first run at the E-Tropolis Festival.
Tracklist
01. Obey
02. Ceremony
03. Neuromancer
04. Street Spirit
05. Tria Prima 2
Line-up
The bands keeps it a secret
Website
https://priest-official.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/priestofficial
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
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