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Strauss Stream New EP Falena in its Entirety

Posted in audiObelisk on February 23rd, 2018 by JJ Koczan

strauss (Photo by Magda Wrzeszcz Photography)

London four-piece Strauss will release their third EP, Falena, on March 2. They play a launch gig that very same night (it’s next Friday) at the famed The Black Heart venue in Camden Town, and in so doing will mark the official start of a new era for the band. They were a fivesome at the time they issued their last short outing, 2015’s five-tracker, Luia (review here), and have continued to undergo significant personnel and aesthetic changes moving them away from where they started out on 2013’s self-titled EP (review here), playing to a more aggressive style as heard in the harsh shouts throughout Falena‘s six songs/28 minutes from vocalist Stef Sacchetto, joined in the band at this point by founding guitarist Charles Fusari, and the newcomer rhythm section of bassist Mark Lotz and drummer Seb Tull.

The drop from five players to four means the loss of a second guitar alongside Fusari‘s, but whether it’s the dug-in prog-metal riffing of churning closer “Distant” or the start-stop dude-mosh bounce at the start of “JB Taylor,” which later moves into more spacious terrain, or complementing the Faith No More-style funk in Lotz‘s bass and Sacchetto‘s strauss falenamanic snare groove on the subsequent “Pantomine,” the six-stringer proves more than versatile enough to hold down the position on his own, even jamming out a bit in the second half of “Lit Corners” as Sacchetto works in a quick couple lines of cleaner vocals before the fuller-brunt assault is reignited. That’s not to downplay the loss of a member or discount the impact of the shifts that Strauss has undergone in the last couple years, but with a strong current of noise rock throughout Falena, they don’t seem to have taken any step backwards in terms of their overall progression. It may have taken them an extra year to get the songs together — three between releases, as opposed to two — but they still got there, as “2016”‘s blend of sludgy lumbering and sample-laden post-hardcore thrust demonstrates plainly.

I said last time out that Strauss were ready to take on the task of a debut full-length. It’s clear why they might not have wanted to go that route. Losing a guitarist is one thing. Changing out a bassist or a drummer is another. To have all of that happen between one batch of tracks and another, and yeah, a band might want to make sure things are working as well as they might seem to before making a statement as strong as a first long-player invariably becomes about who they are and the ultimate direction they’ll look to take. Nonetheless, in the blend of toughguy groove and progressive melody-making brought to bear on “Ashwagndha” and “Distant” and the four cuts between them, Strauss still show a significant sonic persona of their own, and I remain convinced that, should they feel like they’re there in terms of making a complete record as their next step, they indeed are. I guess we’ll see how that goes.

Below, you can stream the Falena EP in its entirety and read some commentary from the band about everything they’ve been through in the last couple years.

Please enjoy:

Strauss on Falena EP:

“Strauss have undergone a few lineup changes since their last release, ‘Luia’, in 2015. Seb Tull took on drums in 2016 and began co-writing with guitarist Charles Fusari.This talent-merger brought radical differences into the band’s sound and the project rapidly evolved into a brand-new melt of personal tastes, influences and musical endeavours.

In June 2017, they entered the recording studio for the third time and gave birth to the new EP ‘Falena’ within a few days, under the guidance of recording engineer Wayne Adams. Shortly after, bassist and original band member, Bill Tandy, left the project and was replaced by Mark Lotz.

Somehow hybrid and intense, the musical variation that so much characterises Strauss’s new sound was pushed even further by vocalist Stef Sacchetto. Finally cured from long-term depression in 2017, he was able to prepare and lay lyrical sets that, in this particular record, aim at questioning, provoking and guiding the audience into reflection and self-analysis, as well as being influenced by recent global events.”

Strauss on Thee Facebooks

Strauss on Bandcamp

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