The Brothers Of Depression are actually two cousins. On that note the duo who released Deep Dark Sea has the most dismal, dark and depressing titles and lyrics I have heard from a band. I’m not entirely sure if this was supposed to be a joke or not to be honest (perhaps that is the genius of it) but I will say I was entertained
Up first is “Deep Dark Sea” which is a spoken word piece with a couple digital elements in the background. The vocals sound very distant and lo-fi and I had a hard time making out the lyrics. It sounded like the beginning of a play. It’s so melodramatic but the lo-fi quality doesn't match the very intense emotions I think they were going with. I really didn’t know if they were trying to be tongue-in-cheek but I found it engaging. “As He Slowly Breaks” felt more like a song with a couple of notable melodies. The song is again very lo-fi and I’m not sure why the vocals sounded like they were coming from another room. This song seemed to be an attempt at humor. Between the lines like “God is a jerk” and “Finally went to bed on the 45th attempt / I don't know where that God damn day went” and the vocals that have a heavy affectation I found myself smirking quite often. “I Love You, But” contains some guitar and maybe wind and vocals while “Waves Wash Over Me” is some sort of an ambient piece with light guitar and existential dread. “Nihilists, Dude” is so over the top and I think this was just supposed to be silly. He sings, “My life is meaningless, and so is yours / In this void of emptiness, we’re often torn.” The album progresses with song after song that has a dismal like quality that delicately balances between humor and pure dread. As a recording engineer I had a hard time dealing with how lo-fi this was at times. There was very little separation between any of the instrumentation, the vocals were thin and hard to hear, and there were other issues getting in the way of the emotion. I think lo-fi could work for them but even a ten or fifteen percent increase in fidelity would help with overall foundation they are creating. I do on occasion like listening to really dark and depressing music like Grouper, Sunn O))) or Tim Hecker. Deep Dark Sea is a little more aligned with a band like Xiu Xiu who is so melodramatic and over the top you can’t do anything but smile at points. The latter was more the type of energy I got from this group. If the band can figure out how to improve the recording quality and can continue to do this high wire act of balancing very different emotions they may be able to find a unique little niche for themselves. I'm looking forward to how they evolve.
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