EP REVIEW: Acedia – Slain Thought

SLAIN THOUGHT returns for a second release after their debut A Failed Exorcism with a three-track EP Acadia. Noted to be “embracing experimentation as a means to explore the insanity, dread, and hopelessness that comes from abandoning an indifferent god—and seeking death as a means of comfort instead” – will this release deliver?

TELL ME WHY THE FLOWERS DIED is more than happy to take its time starting up. Initially there’s a serene layering of notes that are pretty tranquil, but that’s interjected quite quickly with dissonant strings. It plods and drones without much push towards tonality or melody, but rather sits on its three or four phrases for two minutes. It’s fairly underwhelming, neither inspiring calm or rage. Its final moments of echoing screams might have been better used throughout the entire track to lean into any sense of real despair, but at least that final minute has some kind of heart of desperation and sorrow. The overall track is a pretty dull start to this release, and there’s not a lot of time to make a better impression.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t inspire much more with second track 25TH LUCID HOUR OF BEGGING. The decaying drone that rises and falls against the sermon like intro, and haunting reverberation of the last few moments again is just meaningless sound. There is so little to talk about in this track that it’s hard to review. It you fancy an inoffensive drone with some unintelligible spoken word, you’re all covered here. Otherwise, you’ll most likely want to turn this off.

It feels as if the intention of this record is to evoke dread, insanity and hopelessness. Unfortunately, it really misses the mark, and leaves the listener with much less than that. It’s slightly irritating, but the only maddening element is that someone has recorded this and thought it complete enough to release.

If, however, you’d fancy spending another five or so minutes with SLAIN THOUGHT, then you’ll be rewarded with ACEDIA (THE JOYLESS HEART). Finally, there’s some semblance of an idea going on here, with more of a doom feel than simple, aimless drone. There’s an airy quality to this track that does feel somewhere between bittersweet and sorrowful. The deep, guttural sections feel like something that’s been trying to work its way out to you this entire EP has finally broken the surface. It’s a more maddened, off-kilter track than the previous tunes, with twinkling keys and a shimmering of percussion. The meaningless sense of what happens on this track, unlike the others, is actually intentional; there is a true sense of conveying despair to an audience, rather than expressing it for the sake of itself.

While SLAIN THOUGHT might feel that all these tracks flow to a complete sense of dread and desperation, or loneliness, essentially there is only one track that has any genuine right to describe itself as such. The first two thirds feel, quite frankly, unfinished. There’s not enough, well anything, to puncture your emotions. The whole thing feels thrown together. While Acedia might strive to feel loose and experimental, the end result feels amateur, self-indulgent and uninteresting.

Rating: 3/10

Acedia is out now via self-release.

Follow SLAIN THOUGHT on Bandcamp.