ALBUM REVIEW: Miracle Of Death – Vanishing Kids
Located on an isthmus and surrounded by five lakes, the city of Madison, Wisconsin is in a unique geographical place and boasts a vibrant spectrum of musical culture. With dramatic views across Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Wingra, Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa, the duo of Nikki Drohomyreky (vocals, organ, synthesizers) and Jason Hartman (guitars) formed VANISHING KIDS in the early 2000s. With a plethora of 1970s rock and psychedelic influences, VANISHING KIDS have created their own glistening and gloriously gothic brand of dreamy doomgaze packed with soul, melodic hooks and enchanting atmospheres.
Written and recorded during the plagued years of the pandemic, VANISHING KIDS’ sixth album Miracle Of Death is a celebration and exploration of life, death, love, loss, and everything in between. With Jerry Sofran (bass) and Nick Johnson (drums) completing the line-up, Miracle Of Death is a deeply emotive and splendidly gothic musical journey to a place where moonlight makes the lake waters glisten and the life seems to stand still. The album follows on from 2018’s Heavy Dreamer and sees the Madison quartet continue to evolve their unique brand of heaviness.
Miracle Of Death is a bewitching and ethereal affair; gracious and glistening layers of gothic psychedelia envelop you and Drohomyreky’s distinct vocals are like a ghostly guide through this shadowy yet beautiful realm. Moving between sounds reminiscent of AMON DUUL, DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH and MY BLOODY VALENTINE to name a few, you really get a sense of VANISHING KIDS’ eclectic musical tastes. They’re adept at utilising these influences to continually evolve their sound and evoke powerful musical moments that stay with you.
Miracle Of Death is a musical embodiment of a lost, ethereal spectre trying to find its way through a new realm of reality. This sort of imagery is conjured up in your mind when you cast your thoughts back to the album’s themes. We all felt new, unfamiliar emotions that stirred something in us, a detachment from reality and a departure from the norm as life seemed to be brutally snatched away. Passing through melancholy, euphoria and despair, VANISHING KIDS have an innate ability to completely enrapture you in their glimmering and glistening songs.
In many ways, Miracle Of Death is cathartic. Mixing heaviness with enchanting shoegaze melodies processed through swirling choruses, sumptuous reverbs and delicate delays, it feels like your soul is being given a chance to be temporarily liberated from its flesh prison to ascend into the aforementioned realm where moonlight glistens over the lakes of Wisconsin. Each track has its own beautifully unique ambience that slowly swells, ebbs and flows; it also isn’t shy in delving deeply into the emotions it discusses, making Miracle Of Death feel like the most open and honest VANISHING KIDS album to date.
Miracle Of Death’s slow tempos and continuously shifting atmospheres and soundscapes are packed with hidden surprises and subtle nuances throughout, all of which are slowly revealed with each listen of the album. You can see why VANISHING KIDS have been held in high regard over the last two decades for their masterful songwriting; Miracle Of Death seems to grow as it progresses, from out of the darkness into the light.
The album opens up with the melodically infectious Spill The Dark; Drohomyreky’s voice takes on an angelic tone as the band’s unique heaviness sweeps you off your feet in anthemic style. Only You brings in the darker BLACK SABBATH-esque vibes with snarling bass distortions and thunderous guitar riffs, and once again the vocal melodies are infectiously catchy. Demon Glove brings in the violin talents of Gavin Epperson to add an extra layer of emotion. As the violin’s notes weave in between waltzing riffs and rhythms the vocals take a sombre, longing tone, as if the song’s protagonist is looking to break free from their circumstances.
Midnight Child is a stand out track as it ups the ante with 1970s heavy rock riffs, spacious vocals and gloriously gothic droned organ notes, slowly building up to an anthemic solo and thunderous closing riff. Feral Angel returns to the dark and brooding heaviness that we first encountered on Only You. Crunching distortion interwoven with ascending and descending synth riffs before descending into a sepia toned psychedelic hole that feels like you’re entering the mad world of Alice In Wonderland. LKN is an hauntingly ambient track that utilises Drohomyreky’s synth and vocal talents to create a mournful interlude before the album’s monolithic closer Dust. It’s an incredible final flourish that incorporates all the best bits of the album and sends you on a nine-and-a-half minute musical odyssey.
Miracle Of Death marks the brilliant and magical return VANISHING KIDS after five long years. A wonderfully gothic, spectacularly haunting, soulful and eclectic album that captivates and stays with you from start to finish.
Rating: 8/10
Miracle Of Death is set for release on October 13th via Aural Music.
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