ALBUM REVIEW: Birth Of The Marvellous – Sermon

Cinematic and cohesive; a stirring vision that harnesses atmospheric sprawl with flashes of dextrous ferocity – something enigmatic this way comes in the form of Birth Of The Marvellous, the debut album from SERMON. Recorded in 2017 and conceived as a concept album driven by a theological legend, a continuing penchant for anonymity has ensured this London duo’s debut offering arrives shrouded in mystery – with a sound that demands your undivided attention.

Whilst the album has a religious context, cue scathing lyrical references to crowns of thorns, haunting orchestrations and derisive scorn aimed at figureheads of power, the aim here is not to preach to the converted. In a world of divisive opinion and reckless faith, the band have instead crafted seven songs in order to spread a sonic message of equilibrium. The SERMON sound is formed and driven by regal vocals alongside soaring mellotrons amidst a wall of tumbling bass and spacious, distorted guitar riffs. Written as a direct emotional response to the terminal illness that claimed the anonymous vocalist’s father’s life, The Descend bleeds with emotional poignancy. Augmented by sporadic gang chants, earnest vocals unfurl over intricate drum patterns courtesy of VADER’s James Stewart as the band pay enjoyable lip service to KATATONIA’s ambient doom metal and the melancholic noodling of PORCUPINE TREE without straying too far from their own unique path.

An expansive take on doomy post-rock, the pensive bassline that opens Festival belies the percussive crescendo that follows. Chock-full of muted hooks and ominous atmospherics, there’s an unmistakable sense of urgency pulsing through the track before it segues into The Drift and it’s ethereal meandering. Heavier moments manifest themselves via Contrition’s thundering riffs and caustic shouts pointing towards the duo’s extreme metal influences and briefly away from the alt-cum-progressive soundscapes built upon elsewhere  whilst the epic sprawl of both The Preacher and The Rise of Desiderata brings the album to a fevered conclusion; the latter being a mesmeric blend of evocative orchestrations and prog-tinged grooves peppered with explosive dynamics veering wildly between impassioned chanting and unsettling whispers.

Part cathartic release, part ambitious experimentation, The Birth Of The Marvellous’ strength lies in its ability to walk a finely balanced line between the sublimely exultant and the subtly crushing. As a concept album with the aim of creating “a thoughtful intersection for all beliefs”, any prog aficionado yearning for intricate arrangements and dynamic songwriting would be happy to worship at the altar of SERMON.

Rating: 8/10

Birth Of The Marvellous is out now via Prosthetic Records. 

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